Ranilug incident (1999)

42°46′N 20°49′E / 42.767°N 20.817°E / 42.767; 20.817

Ranilug incident
Part of The Aftermath of the Kosovo War
Date6 September 1999
Location
Near Ranilug, Kosovo
Result

Russian/KFOR victory[1]

  • All 3 gunmen are killed
Belligerents
Kosovo Force
Serbia Serbian gunmen
Commanders and leaders
    • Russia Unknown
 Serbia Unorganized
Strength
    • Russia 1 Patrol
 Serbia 3 armed gunmen
Casualties and losses
    • Russia None
 Serbia All 3 killed
Albania 1 civilian killed and 2 injured

The Ranilug incident was a confrontation which occurred on 6 September 1999 between Russian Kosovo Force (KFOR) peacekeepers and Serbian gunmen who had attacked a vehicle with Albanian civilians, near the village of Ranilug.

Russian troops shot and killed three Serbian gunmen. One of the occupants in the vehicle was also killed by the gunmen. At the time, it was the bloodiest incident since the entry of KFOR into Kosovo following the end of the Kosovo War.

Background

On 12 June 1999, Kosovo Force (KFOR), a NATO peacekeeping force was deployed to Kosovo following the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces, which brought about an end to the Kosovo War.[2]

In the month of June, there were several incidents involving KFOR forces. On 12 June, Russian troops occupied Pristina International Airport, resulting in a stand-off with NATO forces over deployment plans, which was ultimately resolved the following month.[3] On 13 June, German KFOR troops shot Serb militants, one of whom was killed on the spot and the other died of his injuries,[4] and on 23 June, a clash between U.S. marines from KFOR and armed Serbs in the village of Zhegër resulted in the death of one of the gunmen.[5]

Incident

On 6 September 1999, while driving through the highway near the village of Ranilug, a Russian KFOR patrol spotted three Serbian gunmen armed with rifles who had attacked a car carrying five ethnic Albanians. The gunmen killed one of the occupants and wounded two; the other two managed to flee. When Russian troops rushed to the scene, they were fired upon by the gunmen. Russian troops fired back, killing all three of the gunmen.[6][7] At the time, it was the bloodiest incident since the entry of KFOR into Kosovo following the end of the war.[6]

Aftermath

NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana visited Pristina the following day and stated that the actions of the Russian troops proved that they were behaving "according to the obligation that all KFOR troops have".[6] NATO lauded Russian forces for not showing "Slavic bias".[1] Albanians had been hostile to the implementation of Russian peacekeepers due to Russia's historical ties with Serbia and Russian volunteers aiding Serbs during the war.[7] Following the incident, a previous blockade that Albanians had formed in southern Orahovac to blockade Russian peacekeepers was removed.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Holley, David (7 September 1999). "Russian Troops Responding to Attack Kill 3 Serbs:Kosovo: Gunmen firing at Albanians were slain when they shot at peacekeepers, officials say". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ Murphy, Ray (10 May 2007). UN Peacekeeping in Lebanon, Somalia and Kosovo: Operational and Legal Issues in Practice. Cambridge University Press. pp. 77–78. ISBN 9780521843058.
  3. ^ "Confrontation over Pristina airport". BBC News. 9 March 2000.
  4. ^ Friesendorf, Cornelius (2018). How Western Soldiers Fight: Organizational Routines in Multinational Missions. Cambridge University Press. p. 154. ISBN 9781108429108.
  5. ^ Smith, R. Jeffrey (23 June 1999). "Marines Shoot 3 in Kosovo Firefight". The Washington Post.
  6. ^ a b c "Russian KFOR troops kill three serbs". jamestown.org. 7 September 1999.
  7. ^ a b Williams, Daniel (6 September 1999). "Russians kill Serbs in Kosovo Firefight". washingtonpost.com.