Ī significant portion of the territory controlled by the VRS, and the Bosnian Serb capital of Banja Luka was located in western Bosnia, and it was dependent on resupply from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, on a single road spanning the Bosnian Sava Basin from west to east through Derventa and Brčko. By mid-May 1992, the VRS controlled approximately 60 percent of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Arming of the various forces was hampered by a United Nations (UN) arms embargo introduced in September 1991. The HVO and the Croatian Defence Forces ( Hrvatske obrambene snage – HOS) could field approximately 25,000 soldiers and a handful of heavy weapons, while the ARBiH was largely unprepared with nearly 100,000 troops, small arms for less than a half of their number and virtually no heavy weapons. In late April, the VRS was able to deploy 200,000 troops, hundreds of tanks, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and artillery pieces. The JNA and the VRS in Bosnia and Herzegovina faced the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine – ARBiH) and the Croatian Defence Council ( Hrvatsko vijeće obrane – HVO), reporting to the Bosniak-dominated central government and the Bosnian Croat leadership respectively, as well as the HV, which occasionally supported HVO operations. On 4 April, Serb artillery began shelling Sarajevo. In the final days of March, Bosnian Serb forces bombarded Bosanski Brod with artillery, drawing a border crossing by the Croatian Army ( Hrvatska vojska – HV) 108th Brigade in response. On the following day, the first fatalities of the war were recorded in Sarajevo and Doboj. Bosnian Serbs began fortifying the capital, Sarajevo, and other areas on 1 March. This declaration would later be cited by the Bosnian Serbs as a pretext for the Bosnian War.

This reorganisation followed the declaration of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 9 January 1992, ahead of the 29 February – 1 March 1992 referendum on the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The VRS initially held the upper hand, particularly in terms of heavy weapons and organisation, but over the three years of war since mid-1992, its capabilities were matched by its adversaries.Īs the Yugoslav People's Army ( Jugoslovenska narodna armija – JNA) withdrew from Croatia following the acceptance and start of implementation of the Vance plan, it was reorganised into a new Bosnian Serb army and later renamed the Army of Republika Srpska ( Vojska Republike Srpske – VRS). The outcome of the battle was the result of changing balance of power in the war. The HVO, supported by the Croatian Army artillery deployed north of the river, managed to withstand the offensive and the front line remained unchaged in the end.

The heaviest fighting was reported on 15 May, when the VRS managed to break through a portion of the HVO defences near the village of Vidovice, but the breakthrough was successfully contained and rolled back by the HVO. ) was actually fought with varying intensity, as more or less intensive combat was interspersed by lulls lasting two to seven days. The offensive codenamed Operation Flame-95 (Serbian language: Operacija Plamen-95) and referred to by Croatian sources as Operation Revenge (Croatian language: Operacija Osveta The Battle of Orašje was fought during the Bosnian War, from 5 May to 10 June 1995, between the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska ( Vojska Republike Srpske – VRS) and the Bosnian Croat Croatian Defence Council ( Hrvatsko vijeće obrane – HVO) for control of the town of Orašje and its surrounding area on the south bank of the Sava River.

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