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UÇKHistory and Memory

12 June 1999 · 1999

KFOR enters Kosovo

On 12 June 1999 the first elements of the NATO-led Kosovo Force entered Kosovo, while the Yugoslav Army and Serbian security forces withdrew on the schedule set by the Military Technical Agreement.
Evidence status: Documented. Supported by contemporaneous documents, institutional reports or independent studies that corroborate one another.The 1998–1999 warInternational intervention
Refugees at the roadside greet a column of military vehicles
Refugees from Brazda camp cheer British Warrior vehicles advancing towards Prishtina on the day KFOR entered Kosovo.Photo: Capt Jim Gallagher / UK Ministry of Defence · 12 qershor 1999 · Open Government Licence v1.0 (Crown copyright)

Photographs

Wheeled armoured vehicles with Marines in front of damaged red-roofed houses in a village.
US Marines of the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion prepare for an urban patrol aboard their LAV-25 vehicles in the village of Zegra on 27 June 1999. The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit served as an enabling force for KFOR.Photo: Sgt. Craig J. Shell, U.S. Marine Corps · 1999-06-27 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Armoured vehicle marked KFOR on a village road, with soldiers in the turret.
A U.S. Marine Corps LAV-25 light armoured vehicle patrols in the village of Zegra, 27 June 1999. The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit deployed as an enabling force for KFOR.Photo: Sgt. Craig J. Shell, U.S. Marine Corps · 1999-06-27 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Soldiers beside a truck marked KFOR on a dirt road, with a hillside village behind.
German KFOR troops on patrol in southern Kosovo, summer 1999 (photo by Nick Macdonald).Photo: Nick Macdonald (nickmacdonald.net) · 1999 · CC BY-SA 3.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
Soldiers and a group of children walk together along a village road.
A U.S. Marine gunnery sergeant marches with local children down the main street of Zegra, 28 June 1999.Photo: Sgt. Craig J. Shell, U.S. Marine Corps · 1999-06-28 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Tracked armoured vehicle marked KFOR with a soldier standing beside it.
German KFOR armoured vehicle in Kosovo, 1999 (photo by Nick Macdonald).Photo: Nick Macdonald · 1999 · CC BY-SA 3.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
Map of Kosovo divided into coloured sectors, with a legend.
CIA map of July 1999 showing the tentative KFOR sectors under the five NATO powers, with sector headquarters, boundaries and Russian subzones.Photo: United States. Central Intelligence Agency. Cartography Center; Kfor (Organization) · 1999-07 · Domen publik (Public domain)
A soldier with a rifle sheltering behind a concrete pillar, a building in the background.
A Marine of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit takes cover after his unit was fired on by Serb snipers at a checkpoint in Zegra on 23 June 1999. According to the US Department of Defense, no US forces were injured.Photo: Lance Cpl. Jimmie W. Perkins, U.S. Marine Corps · 1999-06-23 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Marines with rucksacks boarding a large helicopter on a ship's deck, the sea behind.
The first contingent of Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit boards a CH-53D helicopter on the deck of USS Kearsarge on 8 June 1999, bound for a staging area in Skopje, Macedonia.Photo: Lance Cpl. Richard O'Connor, U.S. Marine Corps · 1999-06-08 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Two men seated at a white table signing documents in a ceremonial hall, officers and diplomats behind them.
Russian Defence Minister Marshal Igor Sergeyev and US Secretary of Defense William Cohen sign in Helsinki, on 18 June 1999, the agreed principles for Russian participation in KFOR. Looking on are Igor Ivanov, Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari and Madeleine Albright.Photo: Helene C. Stikkel · 1999-06-18 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Helmeted soldiers handing leaflets to residents and children on a road.
American and Russian KFOR soldiers hand out flyers to residents of Kamenica on 15 July 1999.Photo: Spc. Christina Ann Horne, U.S. Army · 1999-07-15 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Map of Kosovo divided into multinational sectors.
CIA map showing the KFOR sectors in Kosovo in 1999.Photo: Central Intelligence Agency from Washington, D.C. · 1999 · Domen publik (Public domain)
An American soldier in a helmet facing a man in uniform and a cap with a UÇK badge, before a stone wall.
US Marine Corps 1st Lt. Julian Gudger, through a local Albanian translator, discusses the location of a possible Serbian sniper with a KLA soldier in Cernica, 23 June 1999.Photo: Lance Cpl. Justin Tyler Watkins, U.S. Marine Corps · 1999-06-23 · Domen publik (Public domain)

Sources

  1. [1]NATO. NATO's role in Kosovo. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_48818.htm. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  2. [2]Sekretari i Përgjithshëm i OKB-së. Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (S/1999/779). 1999-07-12. https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/1999/779&l=en&t=pdf. Accessed 2026-09-16.

English translation in progress.

Editorial status: Awaiting verificationDrafted from the cited sources; not yet fully reviewed by the editors.

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