BELGRADE, March 25. /TASS/. A photo exhibition by TASS, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombings of Yugoslavia, has opened at the Russian Center for Science and Culture (RCSC) "Russian House" in Belgrade.

The exhibition, which includes images depicting the reactions of authorities and people to the military aggression of the North Atlantic Alliance, was opened by the agency's Director General Andrey Kondrashov, a TASS correspondent reports.

"Today we are opening a photo exhibition together with our Serbian colleagues. It should remind everyone of what happened 25 years ago on March 24, after which the whole world changed. To this day, those events have solidified the right of the strong in relation to international law. It would not be an exaggeration to say that all the wars that have swept through Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, continue in Palestine, and of course in Ukraine, all started exactly on March 24, 1999. And of course, we must remember this, tell our children about it, and not leave our opponents, who work very well in the media field, a single opportunity to fill the vacuum with their distorted facts," Kondrashov emphasized.

"With [this exhibition], we wanted to say and remind that Moscow has never remained indifferent to the events in Serbia," noted the TASS General Director. "On the very same evening, as soon as the first bomb fell, people gathered for a large rally at the walls of the American embassy. Statements from political parties and the state followed literally that very minute, but the rallies did not stop in the following days. And if before it seemed like some kind of marginalization when a political party stands against the West, then with the first bomb that fell on Yugoslavia, all this infatuation with the West crumbled, and turned into an absolute realization of what the West really is," the head of the agency pointed out.

On March 24, the international premiere of Kondrashov's documentary film "Belgrade" was held at the RCSC in the Serbian capital, broadcasted on the "Rossiya -1" channel, dedicated to NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.

The exhibition in Belgrade was attended by Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, head of Rossotrudnichestvo Evgeny Primakov, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Vladimir Chizhov, research director at the Development and Support Foundation of the Valdai International Discussion Club Fyodor Lukyanov, former chief of the Security Information Agency, leader of the Socialist Movement Aleksandar Vulin, as well as experts, lawyers, and citizens.

Exhibition in Belgrade

At the exhibition, forty photographs by TASS photojournalists taken in 1999-2000 in Russia and Yugoslavia are presented. The first photo is dated March 24 - the day when the "Allied Force" operation began, which NATO carried out without the approval of the UN Security Council. Throughout this time, TASS journalists from the Yugoslav department - senior correspondent Nikolay Kalintsev and correspondent Tamara Zamiatina - reported from Belgrade. They reported on NATO missile and bomb strikes, the situation in the city, and the destructive aftermath of air raids. For their dedication in carrying out their duties, agency employees were awarded Orders of Courage by a decree from the first president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin.

Visitors to the exhibition will see photos from protest rallies against the NATO aggression that took place in Belgrade, outside the US embassy in Moscow, as well as in St. Petersburg, Volgograd, and other cities. Rallies in support of Yugoslavia were held throughout Russia at that time. Agency photojournalists captured large demonstrations, signature collection campaigns against the NATO bombings, recruitment of volunteers to travel to Serbia, and anti-war art by Russian schoolchildren.

One of the frames shows an advertisement poster on a street in Belgorod urging not to buy goods from NATO countries.

Special attention is given to Moscow's role, which took active steps to seek a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Visitors will see a photo capturing the Prime Minister of Russia, Yevgeny Primakov, and the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, after negotiations in Belgrade. The exhibition also includes a photograph from a solemn liturgy conducted by the Patriarch Alexey || and All Russia and the Serbian Patriarch Pavle in front of Belgrade’s Temple of Saint Sava. It became a symbol of unity and support for the fraternal people during difficult times.

A series of photographs is dedicated to the humanitarian aid that Russia sent to Yugoslavia in 1999. TASS photojournalists captured the loading of medicines, warm clothing, and food onto an Emergencies Ministry aircraft that delivered supplies to Belgrade, as well as a convoy of seventy five trucks with aid for the victims of NATO bombings.

The majority of the photographs from Belgrade are by TASS photojournalists Sergey Velichkin and Alexander Danilyushin. The exhibition also includes works by Oleg Buldakov, Igor Zotin, Boris Kavashkin, Eduard Pesov, Sergey Smolsky, Irakli Chokhonelidze, and other agency photojournalists.

About the Bombings of Yugoslavia

On March 24, 1999, NATO launched a military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The main goal of the air campaign "Allied Force" was stated by the alliance's leadership as "preventing genocide against the Albanian population in Kosovo." According to NATO data, during the 78-day operation, alliance aircraft conducted 38,000 combat sorties. According to military experts, 3,000 guided missiles were launched, approximately 80,000 tons of bombs were dropped, including cluster bombs and depleted uranium ones. As a result of the bombings, according to Serbian data, between 3,500 to 4,000 people were killed, nearly 12,500 were injured, two-thirds of them civilians. According to the Serbian government, 87 children died during the NATO bombings.