Kijevo, Croatia

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Kijevo
settlement_type = Village


image_caption =
image_shield =
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map_caption = Location of Kijevo in Croatia
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Croatia
subdivision_type1 = County
subdivision_name1 = Šibenik-Knin
area_total_km2 = 74.37
population_as_of = 2001
population_note =
population_total = 533
latd = 43
latm = 58
latNS = N
longd = 16
longm = 21
longEW = E
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Ivan Stjepan Bajan (HDZ)
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST =CEST
utc_offset_DST =+2
notes =

Kijevo is a small village in the Dalmatian hinterland, southeast of Knin in the Šibenik-Knin county. Kijevo lies underneath the Dinara mountain and near the source of river Cetina. The population of the municipality is 623 (2005), with 99.9% declaring themselves Croats.

Kijevo gained infamy during the Croatian War of Independence in 1990 and 1991 when it was one of the first places attacked by the rebel Serbs in the formation of Republic of Serbian Krajina. The Croatian Ministry of the Interior established a police station in Kijevo which was then a village of 1,261 people, 99.6% Croats, but surrounded by ethnic Serbian villages of Polača, Civljane and Cetina. Kijevo was soon surrounded and besieged by the Serbian forces of Milan Martić on August 17, 1991, who put up barricades and prevented entry into the village. On August 18, 1991, Milan Martić laid down an ultimatum to the police and inhabitants of Kijevo, asking them to leave.

Finally on August 26 and August 27, 1991, the Yugoslav People's Army under colonel Ratko Mladić attacked the village with heavy armament and invaded it, which caused the Croatian forces to flee for Drniš. The remaining Croatian population left after the artillery had destroyed much of their settlements. The reporter of Belgrade television Vesna Jugović recorded these events. Martić [http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mar-2ai030909e.htm] and Mladić [http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mla-ai021010e.htm] have been testified against at the ICTY due to this instance of ethnic cleansing.