Kosovo arrests five Serbs over 1999 Recak massacre that led to NATO intervention

The arrests

Police in Kosovo detained five Serbian men on Sunday, 14 June 2026, four of them former police officers, as part of an expanding investigation into the 1999 Recak massacre. Prosecutor Ilir Morina said the suspects were identified as members of special police units that took part in the operation on 5 January 1999. Authorities seized weapons, parts of uniforms, handcuffs, 43 rounds of ammunition, a chemical protection mask, government documents, mobile phones and cash during the operation, local media reported.

“These people were identified as belonging to the special units of the Serbian police at the time they participated in the operation of 5 January 1999 in Recak.”

The Recak massacre

On 5 January 1999, Serbian forces surrounded the village of Recak, shelled it from a distance, then moved in with armoured vehicles and searched house to house. According to the indictment, 42 ethnic Albanian civilians of all ages and both sexes were brutally killed. The massacre became one of the gravest crimes against civilians during the 1998–1999 Kosovo war and a turning point in the conflict. International outrage triggered NATO air strikes against the forces of then Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević, eventually ending the war.

The wider prosecution

Sunday's arrests belong to a second investigation, labelled "Recak 2", into the massacre. A first investigation already indicted 21 former Serbian army and police members for murder, torture, inhuman treatment, destruction of property and deportation of Albanian civilians. Among the accused are former Serbian police chief Obrad Stevanović, former intelligence chief Rade Marković, two generals and two colonels. Because all 21 are fugitives, Kosovar prosecutors have asked for a trial in absentia, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for 20 July 2026.

Reaction and legacy

Serbia's Office for Kosovo condemned the arrests as part of a pattern of pressure against the Serb community.

“The arrests are systematic political and institutional violence by Pristina, using alleged war crimes as a cover for chauvinistic and anti-Serb policy.”

The NATO campaign ended with the withdrawal of Serbian troops, establishment of a UN mission and eventually Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008, which Belgrade still does not recognise. More than 13,000 people died during the conflict, mostly ethnic Albanians.