A mass grave containing at least ten bodies has been found at the landfill site in the town of Vukovar in the region of Eastern Slavonia, where trial excavations have been carried out since April 2022 in search of those missing from the Homeland War. This was confirmed by the Minister of Veterans Affairs Tomo Medved on Monday.

“I do not want to speculate about the identity of the victims. The first preliminary investigations indicate that we are dealing with victims from the Homeland War,” Medved said, adding that civilian clothing was also found. However, this should not mislead, because it is known that many Croatian defenders were in civilian clothes after the collapse of the Vukovar defences.

He also said that the analysis of the soil found at the site was matched with the remains, which indicates that it is a secondary grave. At the end of 2021, the Ministry was informed of this possibility by the Security Intelligence Service.

Croatia will never tyre of finding missing persons from the Homeland War

“The State Attorney’s Office and the Ministry of the Interior have been by our side for the past two years. So when we have completed our part of the investigation, they will work to identify the perpetrators and bring charges,” he said.

He explained that more than 90,000 cubic metres of material and waste were transported during the test excavations at the site.

According to Medved, preliminary investigations indicate that these remains were brought to the site from another location in the first half of 1992, during the temporary occupation of Vukovar.

He recalled that four mass graves had been found in the wider Vukovar area in the last eight years, which he claimed was the result of a systematic institutionalised approach.

He told the families of the missing that Croatia will never tyre of finding missing persons from the Homeland War and that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.

State Attorney-General Ivan Turudic also took part in the press conference and said that the responsibility for the crimes committed lies with the perpetrators and with those who knew about them all these years but remained silent and are still silent today.

He recalled that a judge of the Osijek County Court had ordered the exhumation of the bodies two years ago and that the two years of painstaking work could only be completed last month.

Search for 1,797 people from the Homeland War continues, remains of 170 have been exhumed in the last eight years

Turudic explained that the remains will be sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Zagreb, where the necessary analyses will be carried out and an attempt will be made to establish the identity of the victims in order to approach the perpetrator.

He also promised the families of the missing persons that the search for their loved ones would not stop.

Ljiljana Alvir, President of the Union of Associations of families of detained and missing Croatian veterans of the Homeland War, said that more than 300 families are looking for answers to the whereabouts of their loved ones who have been missing since the war.

According to the ministry, 1,797 people from the Homeland War are currently being sought in Croatia. In the last eight years, the remains of 170 victims have been exhumed and 263 victims have been identified.

Excavations are continuing at the latest site in Petrovacki Dol, while trial excavations are also underway at the rubbish dump in Bobota, also near Vukovar.