
On This Day, May 22, 1999
The all-Albanian village of Bair in the Kosovska Mitrovica Municipality was targeted with 18 missiles. The Kolubara thermal energy station was shelled. 11 people were injured in the attack, including one severely, and a firefighter is among those injured. The objectives were the same sites that had been targeted with graphite bombs in the previous three attacks, and the distribution plants of the nearby transformer stations were also hit.
Two bombs with special materials were dropped on the Eserovina plant near Bajina Bašta, which is connected with the “Bajina Bašta” hydro energy plant in Perućac. This attack caused the entire area to lose its power supply, and the water supply was also cut. Targets hit in the strike on Šabac include the building of the Municipal Assembly of Šabac, the Revenue Administration, the Republic Financial Inspection, as well as the building of the Services of the Municipal Body for Misdemeanors and Cadastre. The warehouse space of the “Agrokop” company was completely destroyed.
EPS buildings were targeted in the Požarevac Municipality. The attack knocked out the electrical power grid and caused power to be cut to Požarevac, Veliko Gradište, Kučevo, Kolubarica and Smederevo. A bridge was shelled on the Bega near Banatski Dvor in the Žitište Municipality, on the Zrenjanin-Srpska Crnja-Timișoara main road. The Bor Mining and Smelting Basin was shelled again, with the main target being the power station. The wider area of Subotica was shelled. The target of that attack was the hydrometeorological station and the medium-wave transmitter on Palić belonging to Radio Subotica. The TV-tower on Iriški Venac was shelled. The industrial area in Sombor was shelled again, with the main objective being the “Naftagas Promet” warehouse.
Over 1,200 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the NATO strike on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 30% of whom are children, who have names surnames, parents, friends, said Margit Savovič, President of the Yugoslav Commission for Cooperation with UNICEF and the Advancement of Women. Savović stressed that children are those most affected by the war, and that they form 40% of the 5,000 civilians who have been injured by May 22. Pointing out that three million children in the FR Yugoslavia are not able to sleep or rest peacefully and live in stress and fear of becoming “collateral damage”, Savović said that the consequences of this way of life will be felt long after the war. Speaking on the health consequences, Savović said that birth rates are expected to decrease after the war, immune systems will become weakened, the rate of malignant disorders will increase, the number of disabled and orphaned children and children with behavioral problems will increase, and the rates of juvenile delinquency and severe mental disorders will increase.