Marathon runners set off from Vukovar to Srebrenica

The Vukovar-Srebrenica ultramarathon, organized by the Council of the Bosniak National Minority of the City of Zagreb in memory of the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, started this morning from Ovčara in Vukovar, and the marathon runners are expected to arrive in Srebrenica on July 10th in the evening, on the eve of the Srebrenica tragedy, after running 227 kilometers, reports the Patria News Agency.

The marathon runners started in front of the mass grave memorial at Ovčara, from which the mortal remains of 200 Croatian defenders and civilians, killed by members of Serbian paramilitary units and the Yugoslav army in November 1991, after the fall of Vukovar's defense, were exhumed in 1996.

"With the ultramarathon of peace, we want to connect two cities, Vukovar and Srebrenica, which suffered the most during the aggression. Likewise, we want to help ensure that the victims killed in these two cities are never forgotten, but also to warn about what happened so that something similar never happens again," said the president of the Council of the Bosniak National Minority of the City of Zagreb, Kemal Bukvić.

Croatian veterans Robert Kasumović, Duško Štrbac, Dražen Čurčić, and Elvir Rakipović are participating in the ultramarathon, covering 227 kilometers in five days.

Before the start of the ultramarathon, participants and the organizer of the ultramarathon, held under the high patronage of the President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, laid wreaths and lit candles at the foot of the mass grave memorial at Ovčara, Index writes.