DISINFO: NATO bombed Yugoslavia under bogus pretext of protecting Kosovars
SUMMARY
On March 24, 1999, Western nations started bombing the city of Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, under the far-fetched pretext of "protecting" Kosovars.
The bombing campaign killed up to 2,500 people.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative concerning the rationale for, and the number of civilian casualties of, NATO's aerial bombing campaign against what was then Yugoslavia in 1999 around the 25th anniversary.
The primary purpose of the campaign was to end violence and repression and force Slobodan Milosevic, the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), to withdraw his military, police and para-military forces from Kosovo (see NATO's statement from 1999).
According to the Humanitarian Law Center, in Serbia (excluding Kosovo) and Montenegro, 275 persons lost their lives in the NATO bombings: 180 civilians, 90 members of the Yugoslav Army (YA) and five members of the Serbian Ministry of Interior (MUP). In Kosovo, 484 people were killed: 267 civilians (209 Albanian and 58 non-Albanian), 171 members of the Yugoslav Army (YA), 20 members of the Serbian Ministry of Interior (MUP) and 26 members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) (19 of whom died in the NATO bombing of the Dubrava prison, near Istok).
See here for extensive debunking by POLYGRAPH.info.