DEFENCE OF SRPSKA - HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT OF ITS ARMY

BANJA LUKA, MAY 11 /SRNA/ - The head of the Republika Srpska War Veterans Association Zoran Miljanović says that the defence of Srpska during the past war represents a historic achievement of the Republika Srpska Army /RSA – VRS/.

"During the Defensive-Patriotic War, Serb soldiers protected the Serb people from a repetition of Jasenovac, Jadovno, Drakulić, Kozara, Bihać, and many other known and unknown sites of massacres against Serbs," Miljanović told SRNA ahead of tomorrow’s marking of May 12 – RSA Day. Miljanović stated that approximately 24,000 fallen soldiers, nearly 42,000 disabled war veterans, and hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons were the price paid for the defence of Republika Srpska. Memorial service for fallen soldiers and civilian victims of the Defensive-Patriotic War will be held tomorrow at the Kozara barracks in Banja Luka to mark the Day of the Third Infantry /Republika Srpska/ Regiment of the BiH Armed Forces and RSA Day. The Army of Republika Srpska was formed on May 12, 1992, and by the end of the Defensive-Patriotic War it had 210,000 soldiers. According to data from the Republika Srpska Research Centre of War, War Crimes and Tracing Missing Persons, 23,659 soldiers were killed. After 14 years of existence, the RAS became part of the Armed Forces of BiH, within which its military heritage and identity are preserved by the Third Infantry /Republika Srpska/ Regiment.