Leva Supoderica ( sr-Cyrl, Лева Суподерица) was a Serbian paramilitary unit and Party

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

formed in 1991, originally under the wing of the

Serbian Radical Party The Serbian Radical Party (, abbr. SRS) is a Far-right politics in Serbia, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationalist List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. Founded in 1991, its co-founder, first and only leader is ...

. the unit was incorporated into the 1st Guards Mechanised Brigade of the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

. Leva Supoderica was active in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, commanded by the war criminal Milan "Kameni" Lančužanin during the

Battle of Vukovar The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Bar ...

in the aftermath of the battle, Leva Supoderica were one of many perpetrators in the

Vukovar massacre The Vukovar massacre, also known as the Vukovar hospital massacre or the Ovčara massacre, was the killing of Croatian prisoners of war and civilians by Serb paramilitaries, to whom they had been turned over by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) ...

, the unit also guarded the

Ovčara camp Ovčara was a Serbian transit camp for Croatian prisoners during the Croatian War of Independence, from October to December 1991, and the location of the Ovčara massacre. Prison camp Ovčara is located 5 kilometers southeast of the city of Vu ...

War crimes

In 2017, a couple of members of the Leva Supoderica unit were convicted for the deaths of more than 200 Croatian civilians at the

. The Leva Supoderica unit along with the Vukovar Territorial Defense (TO) tortured around 20 Croatian prisoners that had been sent to the

. Once the

Yugoslav People’s Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and ; , JLA), also called the Yugoslav National Army, was the militar ...

withdrew to relieve the besieged barracks and other reasons, the Leva Supoderica unit and the Vukovar TO detained the Croatian prisoners and led them to a mass grave, where 10-20 were killed between 20 and 21 November 1991.

References

{{Reflist Paramilitary organizations in the Yugoslav Wars Military units and formations of the Croatian War of Independence Paramilitary organizations based in Serbia 1991 establishments in Serbia Military units and formations established in 1991

War crimes

See also

References