Zagreb Rocket Attacks - Strikes

Strikes

On 1 May, a meeting was held between leaders of the RSK. Although negotiations were on-going, Martić and Čeleketić were not in favor of a peaceful solution. At 1 pm on 1 May, Milan Čeleketić ordered, with Milan Martić present, an artillery barrage on Sisak which was opened at 5 pm that day. On the same day, M-87 Orkan rocket artillery unit from Knin was redeployed to Vojnić (about 50 km south of Zagreb).

The first attack occurred on 2 May, at 10:25 in the morning. At the time, many civilians were in the streets. The targets hit included the Strossmayer promenade, Petrinjska street and Vlaška street where a tram full of passengers was hit. The Classical Gymnasium in Zagreb located in the city centre was also hit, as were Pleso and its airport. In total, five civilians were killed and 146 injured.

The second attack occurred the following day, at 12:10 in the afternoon. The children's hospital in Klaićeva street, the Croatian National Theatre building (which housed Russian, Ukrainian and British ballet dancers at the time, some of whom were wounded) and the Courthouse at Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square were among those hit.

Two civilians were killed that day and 48 injured, which were less than the day before due to many people avoiding public areas following the first attack. Most of the missiles targeted the city center and surrounding streets, which were most likely to be filled with civilians in the morning. In total, seven people were killed and at about 200 injured (of which about 100 seriously) from these attacks.