NATO & Russia Nearly Went to War - Kosovo 1999

In 1999, NATO and Russia came close to war over the issue of Kosovo, a tiny Balkans nation that NATO intervened in to restore peace. When a British general was ordered by his American superior to forcibly eject Russian soldiers from an airport, an extraordinary confrontation occurred between the two Allies.
Dr. Mark Felton is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Fe...
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress; Rowanwindwhistler; Adam Jones; Mikhail Evstafiev; Stuinzuri; The White House; PANONIAN; Peter Milosevic; Spc Tracy Trotter, US Army; Paul Morse; Presidential Press & Information Office; ITAR-TASS; NATO; Nick Macdonald; Veryamateurish; PO Lewis, S.J., MoD; National Army Museum; Bujar I Gashi; jean-mark gourdon; Cpl. Rob Travis, RAF; Household Cavalry Journal 1999; Adam Ososki.

[Bill Byfield]

Absolutely loving this "modern history" about Russia and Europe. Keep giving us more!

[Paul Martin]

100%, anything Ukraine/Russia related either modern or less modern with modern implications is so on the money right now.

[Timmy Jones]

Me Too .

[Adrian Vannorsdall]

You should re edit the thumbnail and put James blunt in it. Admittedly it’s stupid but it might bring a million views to this video and hopefully a percentage of those like and subscribe 🙏🙌🏼

[TURBOWILEY]

So sad. I remember when I was in Kosovo in 2001 I met a number of Russian soldiers. They had a BTR, and they allowed us to check it out. We exchanged patches and MREs. It's sad to see the state of affairs these days.

[Adnan Abdullahu]

Where were you in Kosovo?

[Donald Feger]

That was cool thank you for sharing your story!

[ИнферноСРБ]

@Adnan Abdullahu just outside of Illyria 😄

[Jozo99]

StrongRUSSIABraveCHECHNYA=UNDEFEATED You can hardly be attacked by NATO when you invaded sovereign nation. That is a defense, not an attack. You are attacking these days and Ukraine has a full right, as a sovereign state, to ask for help anybody they want to. Russia has no right to tell any other sovereign nation (Finland and Sweden included) what alliance to join, where to send their military equipment etc.

[1chish]

Just to add some further context to what happened: The Russians were able to get to Pristina because the actual NATO advance was delayed because the US forces were late and Clark wouldn't let anyone else start without them. So everyone waited, the Russians saw an opening and went for it. Great battlefield opportunism. What Mark missed out was not only did the French bail out of the operation to Pristina the Americans did as well. So we had an American General looking to have UK Paras and light armour go forward alone. So eventually Blunt got to Pristina and was leading his armoured recon squadron from D Company Blues and Royals but had hard nosed Paras itching for a fight with him as well. having recced the situation they stood back and referred to KFOR HQ by radio. In fact the order to attack the Russians came directly to Blunt from Clark not Jackson as expected and it was Blunt that refused. “The direct command came in from General Wesley Clark to overpower them.” Blunt said later. “Various other words were used that seemed unusual to us. Words such as ‘destroy’ came down the radio.” Where were the US troops at this point? “Bringing up the rear.” Blunt and the Bs & Rs officers queried the order twice and and resolved to disobey it if repeated a third time. However 'Word' had got back to UK command and as Clark himself was on the radio a third time to Blunt, General Jackson came on the radio and told Blunt to ignore the order and "Sugar off round the airport with 1 Para" which Blunt did. Jackson went to Pristina airport by helicopter and spoke with the Russian 2 star general there in fluent Russian. With a flask of whisky. He realised they would fight but were cornered. It was later that Jackson met Clark in Skopje NATO HQ and despite Jackson briefing Clark about the situation he had personally seen Clark still ordered an attack to which Jackson refused twice more and even made a call to UK Chief of the Defence Staff and when Clark yet again ordered an attack Jackson made the famous comment with cold formality: “Sir. I will not start World War Three for you.” The story doesn't end there but I have taken enough bandwidth!

[JediMind Trix]

History is full of individuals taking a stand which shaped the future in large ways. This is one of those awesome stories.

[Gromovnik]

Thanks man,i was there...truth

[Victory 6 Actual]

Reconnoitered the situation.

[The toaster 501th]

Will this be in the history books?

[Eelis Martin]

My dad was a UN peacekeeper in northern macedonia from 1999 to 2000. He said it was weird and scary time.

[Gagne]

Peacekeeper? Is this how they call themselves? Why they don't go to Ukraine to keep the peace there? Why always go to do aggressions to small and poor countries?

[Eelis Martin]

@Gagne United Nations doesn't have any correlation to NATO. UN peacekeepers are in a spesific area to guard civilians from any crime or violence. Ukraine doesn't have any internal struggle. They are unified nation now that the war has started. If there was some internal struggle, UN would be there. War with russia is an external problem.

[_007B]

Mark deserves so much credit for this channel. The amount of history, critically important history, that he has covered so much in depth is such a treasure. Thank you Mark, we appreciate all of your work dearly!

[BurnAllEmpires]

This story about the conflict in Kosovo is completely one-sided, using the war propaganda of one side (America) as a source, and even falsely states that Kosovo was a republic within Yugoslavia. Kosovo was a province, as part of Serbia.

[Yellow Wasp Rakija]

This is the CNN garbage version of event. Completely glossing over facts

[MemphisBBQ]

"There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed." --Sun Tzu, "The Art of War."

[Nord Mann]

Thank you Mark! This incident happened while I was serving in the Norwegian military as a dentist. I had the responsibility to get the dental status for all our 1250 Norwegian soldiers in the KFOR 1 deployment and our officers. I remember just before deployment having our commanding officer, Colonel R. Mood, in the chair, when he asked me if I too was ready to go to Kosovo? I had just met a girl and declined the proposal to see the Balkans wearing green uniform and blue beret. As it happens I came to marry this girl and we actually celebrate our 15th wedding day today❤️

[Betrayal]

Wow. Wonderful story

[Alex Ikhsanov]

God bless. War does nothing but destroy, happy to hear you didn’t have to go through it and met the woman of your life

[20Ola02]

Gratulere!

[John Dufford]

Happy Anniversary from Montana, USA

[Th0mas_Papill0n]

This is so sad, Alexa, play "War, what is it good for" by Edwin Starr

[mraso30]

Really been enjoying your modern history and analysis Mark. WW2 is awesome still too, but for the time being this all seems very prescient. Well done on all of it :)

[Salty Monke]

Thank you James Blunt. For preventing WW3. In fact, one of his song was dedicated for a KIA American officer he knew briefly during KFOR operation. "Carry You Home" is the title if you're wondering.

[GTAplayajk]

Thank you James Blunt for preventing WW3...but "you're beautiful" is a No lol

[Grigorov]

Thank you for postponing*.

[柱惠 扈]

Blunt indirectly caused the disasters in Ukraine today.

[Zidorovich Burblyat'ya]

@柱惠 扈 So we should let the nukes fly then, eh? Americans really love trouble and you don't realize that.

[Sean Drew]

Hey Mark I really enjoy what you do . Your work is amazing and you are a true historian

[Uncle Paul Hahrrgis]

Thanks for the great content, Mark! Too few creators provide quality, fact-based videos like you do

[Yellow Wasp Rakija]

This is the CNN version of events

[Yellow Wasp Rakija]

@TREVOR HART 🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑

[Chrundle T. Great]

I was one of the first US forces to enter in June 1999. But I worked together with the Russian Army a year later to close the ground safety zone and to safeguard a Serbian village called Pasjane

[Trez the Lion]

I remember when this happened. I was in basic training. Our instructor called about 15 names and we stood up. He said after basic training you guys are selected to work perimeter security at a military base in that region. It woke us up really quick to how we have to always be ready to go to war. Luckily it was a joke but it taught us all alot about being soldiers.

[Arch Lich]

Thank you for your service!

[🐯WHO-DEY🏉(with an A, not er)]

Thanks for your story

[c v]

i remembär währruß xD whörrvieh bässtärt v v

[Jamie Stewart]

Top level banter

[Martin Plaska]

Thanx for sharing.

[no damiæn]

given the events of the ongoing conflict in ukraine, i'd like to request a brief overview of the 2008 war in georgia/south ossetia, which has important geopolitical parallels to the current conflict (specifically, russia's outright and clear desire to prevent further nato ascension of nation states on its borders)

[Whatservice Tojoin]

Good Idea !

[Darko Darenzy]

Or South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 1

[Vũ Trường]

Even Nato admitted that Georgia the one who attack first on South Otessia and Abkhazia thus not much military actions were taken by Nato

[Jeff Houston]

Nato trained georgians and prepped the invasion for the same old reason: divide and rule. It was a try... The US took it more serious to try it thru ukraine: Maidan in Kyiv 2013, sending neo-nazi and kyiv troops to Donbass in 2014; 8 years of training and prep for proxy with russians in 2022. Everyone knows that "unprovoked russian offensive" sounds silly.

[Corey Cole]

I love everything Mark has talked about and all the topics his videos go into depth about. Mark could talk about anything and he would have my direct attention. Brilliant work.

[Kris Wustrow]

Excellent video. Currently (October 2022), I often see Gen Wesley Clark as a CNN military analyst on the Russo-Ukraine War, and honestly I never knew about his background related to this standoff. Thanks for the research, professor.

[Ray Behnke]

The fact that this isn’t widely known among the American people is horrifying, we love to downplay its significance as a foreign policy failure.

[Baatar Bolormaa]

Spokesperson of the Chinese Mission to the EU said that as a Cold War remnant and the world's largest military alliance, NATO has not yet abandoned its thinking and practice of creating "enemies" and engaging in bloc confrontation 30 years after the end of the Cold War.

[Chris Bridges]

That entire affair was utterly confusing to understand as a civilian in the US in 1999. Mark Felton has a tendency to keep it straightforward. 👍

[Just One Cornetto]

It wasn't confusing to us in the UK. Clark was out of line and tried to bully the wrong British officer. Jackson was tough AF and took no crap from anyone but there was no way he would have risked his starting a war (and his men's lives) for a wannabe Patton like Clark who hadn't explored other options and was just seeking some glory.

[Vladi K]

It wasnt confusing but there was no interest to understand

[DragPakMerc]

@Vladi K No, even as someone with a desire to understand, it wasn't easy. The U.S. media presented the conflict in sound bites and video snippets, completely ignoring the historical context and presenting the motivations of the various factions in the most simplistic terms imaginable, if not glossing them over completely. The internet wasn't widely available yet, so accessing reliable sources of the in-depth information necessary to develop a reasonable understanding of the situation was difficult for the average person.

[Damn Surfer]

I was in the USAF at the time and deployed to Italy (F-15 squadron). Probably one of the quickest no notice deployments i was ever part of. Most of the time there we did nothing, just waiting for orders until we got sent back. It was a nice month vacation paid for by Uncle Sam.

[Joe Eagles]

I hope you had a nice vacation while people were killed by your bombs in Serbia and Kosovo. Serbs and Albanians alike. After the conflict, KFOR was supposed to keep the Serbs and Albanians separated but looked the other way when 200k Serbs, Roma, Gorani and moderate Albanians were ethnically cleansed from Kosovo. No vacation for them.

[Crocodilian]

@Joe Eagles nice lies

[Ulli34]

my uncle was UN peacekeeper in bosnia during the war. He told stories when bullets fell out from sky to their helmets because serbs were firing to skies during new year celebrating. And how different were nato/US lunches(hamburgers and stuff) compared to just soups from home country.

[Arbër]

I live in a village near the airport of Prishtina, my family and villagers used to buy a lot of russian fuel for cigarettes and such goods because the russian logistics were a mess in Prishtina, the troops would basically sell anything of value for dirt cheap to my country men, they would not only sell the fuel from their reserve but also from their actual vehicles.

[SekirDelyn]

Oh, I needed this so much! I've seen Clark on TV couple of times recently as a guest to address the war. He seemed to be a hardliner to me. A no-BS type of commander. I recognized his 20 year younger image on the thumbnail, so I clicked. After this I came to realize he is a warmonger.

[SekirDelyn]

@Satnav I wonder why these information are left out when a current TV program introduces the "expert". Oh, wait! I know! It's irrelevant for the current program! /s

[toni pzs]

He also now have his busines on Kosovo, I think on energetic. So did he fought for country or his own interest. They made mafia state there

[reorioOrion]

In fact, the NATO war against Yugoslavia is much more important than many might think. Read about the "turn over the Atlantic" ("Primakov's loop") This event, which became a turning point in relations between the Russian Federation and the United States. Half a year after the end of the NATO bombing, Yeltsin resigned, transferring authority to a former member of the KGB - Putin. There are much fewer historical, linguistic and family ties between Russia and Serbia than between Russia and Ukraine. However, Serbia is an Orthodox country - the successor of Constantinople. As is Russia. We have one religion. 100 years ago, defending Serbia, Russia got involved in the First World War. It was the bombing of Yugoslavia that showed many Russians that the path of openness was wrong. Thus, Russia gradually began to embark on the path of militarism.

[Gabriel Zamora]

I was in middle school when this happened and I remember seeing the picture of the downed US bomber on the front page of the LA times. I remember asking my teacher what this could mean and he said "If this conflict gets out of hand this could mean World War 3" coincidentally we were learning about WW2 at the time.

[dusko sekulic]

And it did cause WWIII as we can see now...

[dusko sekulic]

@Dave Well,we agree on that one. Never again. Every nation for itself. Serbia will never again help anyone getting out of Austro-Hungary empire. It was a bad idea indeed.

[ClvrSwine]

Sounds like B.S. to me. I doubt you saw this. I doubt you asked your teacher anything.

[Guenther Steiner]

Technically it was a fighter-bomber

[Lucid Abstract]

Thank you so much for this channel. I’m a huge history buff and you give so many interesting stories I’ve never even heard about. Thank you so much for all you do🔥

[Duneydan]

My Father went with his unit as Peacekeeper in Yugoslavia and 2 times in Kosovo. I love to hear his stories!

[Eduardo Muñoz]

"I will not start WWIII for you". Incredible and amazing how his judgement in that split moment prevent such a catastrophe...

[ThePuschkin1986]

Dear Dr Felton, as a long time subscriber, frequent user of your channel and recently having purchased a copy of your book 'Castle of Eagles', I shall make a formal request for future videos on topics I feel are right up your alley and which I am dying to see being presented by you: 1) the Mechelen Incident of 1940, when a lost German plane accidently spilled the beans on German invasion plans for France and the Low Countries, 2) Operation Algeciras of 1982, when during the Falklands War Argentine agents prepared to sabotage British shipping in Gibraltar, 3) Operation Tracer of 1941, when the British created a top secret plan for a stay behind observation post on the Rock of Gibraltar should the base ever fall to Axis troops. Many thanks for your indefatigable efforts to educate us ignorant fools with your excellent content. I hope you will consider my suggestion.

[Dave McLallen]

i hope people mired in extraneous stuff in any high school will nevertheless learn much if prompted by this outstanding video, when/if provided by a teacher wanting classroom discussions, and at least, for students to be given reference to it. people have to know how to make decisions no matter at what stage in a career--the sooner the better.

[Percival_DE]

It is truly frightening, how many times mankind narrowly escaped a large scale conflict or even nuclear war, mostly not due to political decision-making or doctrine, but by individual people simply using their sense of reason like Stanislav Petrov. Thanks for another gem, Mr Felton!

[Ilsimeone]

I highly doubt that Russia would have started WW3 because of 250 soldiers at Pristina Airport.

[Velvet Deluxe]

@Ilsimeone Considering the lack of care they seem to put into neither civilians nor enlisted military nowadays i wouldn't be surprised.

[mbaxter22]

Who would have thought that James Blunt and Stanislov Petrov would go down in history as two of mankind’s greatest saviors.

[Joni Roberta]

Interesting story. I mostly picked this up from the TV and radio news at the time and missed a lot of the details. I think it would be very interesting for you to do a video on the 1973 Arab-Israeli War when the U.S. actually went to DEFCON III. The USSR was supporting the Arabs and started deploying troops and equipment for a possible intervention if the Israeli counterattack went too far. At the same time, the U.S. was supporting Israel. I was in the Air Force at the time and this was a major step up from DEFCON V, normal peace status (SAC was always on DEFCON IV) to DEFCON I which was a full war status. Fortunately both sides backed down and a peace deal was brokered leading to an actual treaty between Israel and Egypt.

[Onni Sonni]

I was stationed very close to Prishtina airport back in 2001-2002 and one of our jobs was to keep an eye on the russians and make sure they do not drive past our camp. I still have photos of their tanks somewhere. They used to drive to our camp and then turn back to where they came

[Ladilica021]

That is the problem. Ur job was to keep an eye on the Russians instead to keep an eye on albanians who were still killing serbs, burning their houses and churches

[Onni Sonni]

@Ladilica021 now now son. Dont tell me what my Job was and what is wasnt. Both sides were doing bad stuff against civilians. The world is not that black and White as you seem to think. Take the massacre of Racak for example of the stuff serbs made.

[Will Cui]

isn't that a sort of trolling?

[Onni Sonni]

@Rogy N well the massacre happened, no matter how you look at it. 2004 I was on another deployment, not In Kosovo. A bit salty, are ya now?

[Eric]

Love your Historic updates . Great work and presentations

[Kaido Ojamaa]

Very insightful, Dr. Mark Felton. From October 1998 to January 1999, I was one of the US KDOM mission members in Belgrade and Pristina. We were the first major element in there. Reflecting on the memories from what I was involved with and saw as things unfolded for the worst is something that will always be a part of me that I cannot forget.

[Työ Mies]

Thanks for the awesome video again Mark! You should do a coverage on the Turkish prosecution and massacre of the kurds some day. This is a subject that has not been covered enough on the internet it seems and is widely censored in Turkey; when you think about the whole situation over there it is kinda ridiculous that Turkey is even a member of NATO. :D

[No Name]

I went to Kosovo after the war with my Father. He was a Foreign Aid Project Manager tasked to rebuild and modernize factories for building roof tiles. I didn't understand his misson until we went there. There were so many houses without roofs, especially around Prishtina. All broken from gun fire and bombs. They said that even a bomb hit like 50m away would blow all the roof tiles off and shatter them. I've seen houses basically intact but missing all the roof tiles. So no insulation in harsh winter times. It was really hard for me to see all the destruction after the war, never seen anything like that. I'm from Germany btw. His office was directly in Prishtina and he had local employees (albanians) working with him for this mission. We had to use electricity generators most of the time to keep the office running as the power was only available at certain times. So strange to have to get fuel so your computer can run. All people i met there were really nice to me (maybe because i'm german) but i noticed the very deep rooted hatred between albanians and serbs. He could not mix the ethnicity of the employees because the employees would basically fight in the office. I could never comprehend that. The KFOR Troops were still around (germans in my area) and it was really strange to walk past a Main Battle Tank or Infantry Fighting Vehicle parked in the middle of the street to get my Doner from the local shop. The german soldiers were really nice though and after knowing i was german they always greeted me or even saluted when i would walk past them on my way to the Doner shop. Well that is my little story i wanted to share. Make Peace not War.

[Mondo]

Good story. Thank you for sharing it.

[Cossack]

It's crazy because most Albanians I've met are some of the nicest and most intelligent people. Many speak multiple languages and I noticed Albanian Muslims and Christians get along perfectly.

[Pampered Master]

I hate that this hate between Serbs and Albanians still exists. As an albanian I hope this ends in future generations.

[theoutlook55]

Thank you so much for sharing your personal story. It paints such a vivid picture and goes a long way toward helping outsiders like myself appreciate things.

[657449]

Great story. A lot of problems would be solved if people talked to each other and not about each other. Every group has its good and bad people.

[Chris Lebon]

I love how Dr Felton is branching into current events (Ukraine, Russia) with his usual approach of finding the most fascinating, almost always unknown tidbits of history and clearly explaining all the amazing historical events that you will never learn anywhere else It's quite brilliant actually!

[Brian Anderson]

Thanks Dr. Felton. I was in Kosovo in March/April of 2000 with the 24th MEU as part of KFOR. Pretty exciting for a 19yo, however the result of one of those "misplaced" US airstrikes, a motor coach cut completely in half by a Hellfire missile, is something I have never forgotten.

[Scott Charney]

Not to mention the not-so-misplaced airstrikes on Yugoslavian civilian infrastructure!

[motorrebell]

@Scott Charney It was no secret that the Serbian ( Anti Aircraft units ) used Civilians as shields too .

[DarkEagle99]

There is also another great factor that is unmentioned here in Clarks defense, with the KLA army refusing to unarm and clashing with the russian troops (wich they threatened with if the russians didnt withdraw) as they saw russian troops as an "extension of the serbian army" in Kosovo, thereby breaking the agreement they had signed, wich was to hand over its weapons to KFOR forces once the serb troops had withdrawn. It would have led to a reignition of the war. I agree with what happened, just not necessarily the conclusion of it. General Clarks conserns were many at the time and I understand that its hard to put all that in here on an 11 minute video about the entire crisis. There are a couple of great books about this conflict though.

[Soul]

You really think after all these people went through they’ll just give up their arms and become defenseless again?

[DarkEagle99]

@Soul nope, and they shouldn't.

[Soul]

@DarkEagle99 exactly

[Nick W]

I recently saw a video of some steam powered 'land trains' from WW1 that are still operable and were taken around town, based at the British tank museum. That would be a super cool video to make, and would be enjoyed by your normal history viewers as well as the steam community

[Maka]

Yup i always wondered what the point of those were. You could only use them on rails so anything standing in the way of your target you couldnt drive around like with a car. Also they seem to be so easy to defeat by simply derailing the tracks in advance before the train arrives.

[Bravery In Arms]

You fail to mention the Canadian 1PPCLI Battle Group, and the Tanks of the LDSH, that I was part of KFOR in 1999. As a member of B Coy, 1 PPCLI, we were based in Magura, near the Pristina Airport, and on top of conducting our operations to disarm the KLA, we also had to monitor the Russians activity around the Airport. A very dangerous time... it was like sitting on a bomb that could explode any time.

[Vlad Tepes]

Yeah you had guys from Québec there too

[Martin]

Mark's videos are simply unmatched to anyone on KZbin. He's such a natural talent.

[MR. ONETHIRTYEIGHT]

It's up there with the guy that does "Timeline" history channel.

[PanzerBuyer]

I've watched his subscribers skyrocket.

[Wiegraf]

yes his abilities to read from a script and create an extremely basic slideshow are unmatched

[Matthew Hunting]

He's a cultivated talent* he's worked hard on his craft. He didn't just wake up and pump out great doc

[Wiegraf]

@Matthew Hunting he didnt?

[Peter Russell]

Thank you for your contribution at this time. Giving context to the current situation is very helpful. Those who study war pray for peace.

[King Henry]

Thank you Mark Felton, your history lessons should be taught in school. I ran into a customer today while working & she had no idea what the Battle Of The Bulge was or during WWII, I gave her a history lesson.... I grew up with WWII Veterans & Korean War Vets to; My Uncle was in the Battle Of The Bulge. And finding more & more Americans that don't even know our WWII History is disturbing. And watching what is happening in Ukraine, its like history repeating its self. Thank you!

[Markio Book]

Ukraine is not history repeating. It's the logical development of two anatagonists- USA and Russia.

[Paul Gaskins]

That bombing of the Chinese was not only not accidental but it was warranted as well. The Serbs are pretty smart and we’re able to take down an f-117, the only one to ever be lost to enemy forces, and they had given the Chinese a whole wing with all of the electrical components from the cock pit as well and we had to do what was absolutely necessary to keep that technology from falling into their hands

[BGD ABG]

It's still with Serbs. What you say is just...hospitals, tv, bridges, trains, homes...it was all places Serbs were hiding f-117?

[Bread]

Hmm it’s not like the us had plenty of f 117s downed in Vietnam and never carpet bombed them

[Vuxigeck]

Really interesting hearing this incident being explained by someone not from here! Great job, honestly.

[Bassa52]

Thanks Mark for covering a subject that haunts my mind. I’ve always wondered on the legality of NATO’s intervention in Serbia and, more specifically, the bombing of Belgrade. I don’t know if you, or anyone else, could shed some light on this. At the moment, I have the feeling it was an agression on a sovereign state and internal affairs.

[Matthew Clark]

You can come ask my Serbian neighbor...he lived through it.

[Branislav Tomic]

It was totally illegal action mate

[kippamip]

I remember going into the Airport whilst in Kosovo as I needed a nato travel order as my passport had ran out. We needed to pass through the Russian contingent to get to the part where the UK contingent was. When we came through the gate, they stopped us and immediately started to haggle with us for certain pieces of our equipment like boot's and smocks etc. We were offered world war 2 medals and all sorts of stuff. They were cold worn out and no doubt short on supplies. You kind of felt sorry for the ruskies as you could tell they were up against it. Looking back I wish I had stuff to trade just for the memorabilia.

[kippamip]

Bryan Kirby I was just a young trooper at the time so I didn't want to trade my pro boots or cold kit 😂

[Warrior]

You should’ve gave them your sister

[Lucia Conn]

imagine the material shortages they're having now

[mintheman7]

Not much has changed in the Russian army today based on reports from Ukraine

[Warrior]

@user-ot6zl8ix1r yes no you want your sis back i had her long enough

[Dean Goodall]

Another interesting video, thank you Mark, but some inaccuracies. There were two British Brigades in theatre and involved in the entry in to Kosovo. The 4th Armoured Briagde as mentioned and 5th Airborne Brigade. The Pathfinder Platoon were the reconnaissance element of 5AB Bde and D Sqn The Household Cavalry Regiment for 4th Armd Bde. The Comd 4th Armd was Brig Bill Rollo, a Blue and Royal and the Sqn was made up of a mix of Blues and Royals and Life Guards. James Blunt was a Lt in the Life Guards and one of four troop leaders in the Sqn. How do I know? I was there! We all have stories, those of us who were there that day, your video gives an excellent strategic overview, thank you again.

[ComboMuster]

Excellent video as usual (btw never knew James Blunt was captain in k-for!). There's a misconception among some military heads that russians bluff a lot (they do bluff as anybody else) and best course of action is to call their bluff. This can have catastrophic results. Once russians had boots on the ground I don't think anybody would see them off without a fight.

[Curi0u50ne]

You never watched the original Top Gear

[applegg501]

This was documented in one of Gen. Wesley Clark's books, which I read and helped him locate and fix some typos.

[UCN2027]

Congratulations for your channel Mark . I follow your videos almost every day. You are a huge inspirations for historians

[TA Cho]

I remember reading about the Chinese Embassy 'incident' in the newspapers. Honestly speaking, didn't feel a thing back then. Now, if the same thing were to be repeated, I'd cheer for it.

[Seb Sebski]

why? lol

[Bonda_Racing35]

@Seb Sebski He says this because china being hostile towards Taiwan and their actions in India with Kashmir etc…..

[ben]

I remember reading this story for the first time and being absolutely stunned that the Captain James Blunt I was reading about was also the musician!

[edalder2000]

Yup. Blunt was on "Top Gear" a few years back and discussed it with Jeremy Clarkson IIRC. Not a fan of Blunt's music, but he seems a solid guy.

[Norman Boyes]

@Zayne van Day Captain - actually.

[Zayne van Day]

@Norman Boyes point conceded 😂

[Norman Boyes]

Zayne van Day He was a Captain - actually. He served 6 years and commissioned in the Life Guards.

[Maverick 41]

@UCYIWA9AW8wpOlWn-SnzlRgg he was, a captain in the life guards, the ones who also perform ceremonial duties on horses in London and Guard her majesty the Queen, my friend Brendan was in Kosovo in his troop, sadly i was in the Blues and Royals so never got sent 🤣

[Louis Friend]

Mark please make a video on the Chechen forces in Ukraine. They are a little discussed (private) army within the Russian army. Their use of extreme violence and terror are legend. What is less known is their skill on the battlefield. Early reports indicate they took an exceptional drubbing early in the war but it’s difficult to get detailed accounts.

[Maka]

During the Chechen wars they showed barbaric brutality. Cutting of peoples limbs while they were still alive or hang them up alive on squares so incoming Russians would get frightened. But especially the cutting prisoners part seems to be a predominant feature in their war crime movies. For some reason they just really liked torturing Russian prisoners. Nowadays you got Kadyrov and his followers on the Russian side making tons of tik toks that many started to question myself included. Seeing them "assault" a building firing so many bullets from cover at a building and storming it. But when you look at the building there is not a single shot fired back. And the camera man standing basically without cover filming the assault. Meaning there were no enemies to begin with. Just seen too many videos similar like that. Where the chechen soldiers are moving cover to cover and firing meanwhile the camera man is just walking normal through the field filming them. On the other side you have those who have fought in the chechen wars against Russia. But since Russia won the second war these people now fight for Ukraine. Today i saw a beautiful picture from three different fighting groups in bakhmut. One holding up a Georgian flag (Russian 2008 war) another holding up Chechen flag (Russia 2009 war) and the left group holding up the Free Russia flag which is the Russian flag but with the red removed as to symbolize how they want to stop the Russian bloodshed.

[Maka]

@Вадим Вадимович I think he means private because they follow someone elses orders.

[DemiAndHisSyndromes]

No. Ukrainian Nazis on the side of Chechens during Chechen wars would be more interesting.

[Haunted Abyss]

Damn this is one of the craziest situations I've heard on this channel. Amazing work and great breakdown about this situation. Hope to see more around This area and Bosnian war.

[Soup's World]

I was there was crazy times.. we didn’t know if we were going in to be peace keepers or war with Russia Before the Russians took the airport my company was suppose to take the airport, that changed and we set up camp bondsteele

[Oliver Brooks]

I have a lot of friends from there we in the swiss have a lot of refugees from there and some that left post war one of my buds dad was a high praised sniper in his unit of the war

[Mohawk the Patriot Minuteman & Prepper]

Mark Felton delivers the BEST history lessons continuously on the net time in & time out…..

[Top Weeb]

I really appreciate that you're covering history related to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

[AndyFromBeaverton]

In Russian eyes: Ukraine = Yugoslavia Donbass region = KosovO Azov battalion = KLA Putin = Clinton Zelenskyy = Slobo Russian military = NATO

[George Stoddard]

@AndyFromBeaverton Beaverton always has far more common sense than Portland. Your comment is additional proof of that.

[insertnamehere]

And I like how he manages to keep it strictly factual and non political.

[dzonikg]

@AndyFromBeaverton I am from Serbia and similarity is obvious ..If west recognised Kosovo should also Donbass..but what every west media forget to tell is that they etnic cleansed Serbs there..60 000 Serbs lived in Pristina before NATO came..now 0 ..including half off my family

[AndyFromBeaverton]

@dzonikg I went to an anti-war protest in Portland during the war. None of the usual anti-war left was there. It's strange how the left loves war when their guy is in charge. I called into a NPR talk show, hosted by Juan Williams at that time, bringing up all the atrocities committed by the UCK/KLA. He questioned his guest about every terrorist action I cited (because he didn't believe me) and his guest said I was 100% accurate. I remember Jamie Shea accusing Serbia of holding 50,000 Albanian prisoners in Pristina Stadium to justify NATO action? I'm kind of shocked Putin hasn't been citing KosovO as a justification. Strange that Putin creates war when Biden, Obama, & Bush were in charge but did nothing during the Orangeman period.

[Benjamin Hartle]

These are things I never heard about before and I really appreciate that mark Felton is telling me these stories as otherwise I never would’ve looked up these events On my own.

[James Kelly]

Huh, wish I'd known this a couple of years ago. I was involved in the KFOR peace keeping operation as a young soldier completely oblivious to the strategic background . Ive met Wes Clark a couple of times and chatted to him over a beer in DC. I would have loved to loved to hear his retrospective point of view. We talked about WW2 instead which was still interesting

[Skookapalooza]

I was part of the KFOR operation out of Macedonia. Good times.

[Loki Renoir]

1994 I was serving aboard the carrier, USS Saratoga, doing laps in the Adriatic Sea, enforcing the No Fly Zone. Departed from Florida, transiting the Atlantic, & sailing through Gibraltar. Ports of call included Trieste & Naples, Italy. While Corfu, Greece & Haifa, Israel were cancelled, for political expedience, because of association with our mission. Then Palma, Mallorca on the return trip.

[Matthew Frandsen]

I manned a checkpoint in Kosovo in 99. Just my Bradley Fighting vehicle. I was a 19 year old PFC and the driver of the vehicle. We had one strand of concertina wire across the road. My LT and the gunner stayed in the vehicle while I manned the wire. A convoy of Russians came through and it was one of the most confusing moments in my life. Then I saw they were being escorted by US Marines...

[Milos Jovicevic]

Buddy Honestly? How is occupatio of my country holy land Kosovo is different from Ukraina? Isn' t that hypocrisy? Double standard?

[Matthew Frandsen]

Buddy I was only recounting a personal experience I had that was directly related to the video. I mentioned no politics. I was 19, what kind of position do you think I was in? I had no say in geo-political decisions. I'm guessing you are Serb? I know a little of the history. I know how important Kosova is to Serbia. I know your people (Tito and his fighters) helped Americans in WW2, while the Albanians we're with the Nazis. I know NATO stole part of your country. I didn't like what we were doing, but there was nothing I could do about it. I spoke of no double standard.

[Sarah Williamson]

@Matthew Frandsen Kosovo*

[Matthew Frandsen]

@Sarah Williamson Was the "A" offensive? I used the Albanian spelling...I know what I did.

[Tjalve]

I believe that when James Blunt was on Top Gear, telling about this incident, he said that his group set up camp, and he started playing the guitar to entertain them. The Russians heard this, and came to meet them, Asking if they had any food and possibly other supplies to share. Blunt then said "Sure, if we can also share the airfield". Which the Russians agreed to. Whether that only meant NATO forces being allowed to use the runway, or whether it meant blocking it for Russian forces, I don't know. I might misremember some details, and I can't be bothered to look for the correct Top Gear episode. But anyone who want to look for it, can check.

[G31M1]

Damn you, you made me really curious now hahah

[andrew roberts]

Instantly thought about that top gear episode when I seen the title

[Jonathan hatherall]

Soldiers on the inside of the tank guitars on the outside!

[Ocker3]

@Jonathan hatherall acoustic armour? ;)

[Adrian Blakeney]

Your spot on that’s what he said, I was wondering if he would be mentioned so I was thrilled when he was, he’s a top bloke.

[Rambunctious Media]

I was nine years old when this happened. I'm now a 32 year old history buff who's only just found out about this with Ukraine under siege.

[Walter King]

I remember that time period, but I did not know all of that occurred. It's yet another instance that a Russo-American war was avoided by someone refusing to follow orders.

[Jonathan Hill]

Could you delve into the list of countries general Clark was presented with in the pentagon after 9/11?

[Jerry E]

Yes, thank you! The only other source I've ever heard from of this incident was the legendary, late COL David Hackworth, after he had worked as a correspondent for Newsweek there. Wesley Clark has proved himself an idiot ever since then, in particular. As for the British commander there being criticized at the Pentagon, I'd take that as a compliment.

[craigmc]

Search for James blunt telling the story. It's been around for years. I appreciate its not official the way he tells it but its definitely interesting.

[Jay Smith]

I've heard from a few friends that Wesley Clark was (is?) what has come to be known as a "toxic leader;" In other words, "leading by intimidation of subordinates." I'm not sure what visions of glory were racing through his mind.

[Jerry E]

@Jay Smith Lol.

[Skoopsro]

I have to say I'm happy with the way events played out. Sometimes disobeying orders is healthy.

[Ernest Gross]

I wrote a paper on the air war and KFOR peacekeeping operations for my U.S. Army Combined Arms Services Staff School (CAS3) in 1999. I thought that I knew quite a bit about it after that, but you have certainly schooled me today with your video! Also, ironically I was an Army Bandsman who later became a commissioned combat arms officer (I am still a professional musician today), but you told us about a Royal Army Officer who later became a successful musician! Keep those true stories coming, Mark!!

[Muamer Malik]

Greetings from Sarajevo Bosnia

[KentAllard]

Kris Kristofferson was a Ranger before becoming a musician.

[Andrew M Stancombe]

The Rolling Stones Bill Wyman ex RAF Conscripted 1955 but signed on for a further year

[davemis40]

James Blunt .. has sold more than 20m albums worldwide .. other famous army musicians ? Jimi Hendrix and of course Elvis !

[Vladi K]

Greetings from Kosovo

[LADO]

Damn it’s so cool to see dr. Felton tackle recent events. I hope he goes deeper into the Yugoslav wars

[Scruffy's Mustache]

Love it when things happening in my lifetime are now considered "historic"... good video Dr!

[Maxwell Aerial Photography]

Historic events happen every day of your life, whether you are paying attention is entirely is to you.

[Scruffy's Mustache]

@Maxwell Aerial Photography Yessir, it's kind of like what I see as an every day tool since the day i bought it, is maybe considered a "classic" nowadays. We make history every day, but it does have significance since it is just another day. To see it held in regard in a different light is always an interesting perspective.

[Vukasin Jovanovic]

When they ran out of military targets,which happened pretty fast, they switched to bombing TV stations(which were in residential areas, a bomb fell 50 meters fromy my house and destroyed the neighbours yard), factories, railroads, bridges were down which the first few weeks.

[Dark Of Light]

I remember this shitshow! It just amazed me how come people (often politicians or the alike...) just can´t get along without always waving flags or displaying the enormous greed for money and power. It has been so close many times and it is a dangerous game indeed. If there´s something we humans can learn from history, it is that we learn nothing. Great video Dr Felton!!!!!

[Boom Tube]

hello from Albania, Thank you Nato ✨✨✨✨

[SiVlog]

I knew that Russia was uncomfortable with the Americans attacking Serbs, but I didn't know that it came close to an actual war, with the exception of the one actually fought in Kosovo anyway. Thanks for informing us about forgotten aspects of history once again Mark 👍

[Yankee 137]

I was in Sarajevo as an UN American peacekeeper in 1999. Us low rank guys got along fine, the Russian enlisteds were always friendly. Would give them cigarettes and such at checkpoints, take photos, etc. Don't think I ever saw a Russian officer much less met one, but the enlisted guys were perfectly fine young men.

[Coajdka]

@Yankee 137 all soldiers are normal guys from every country

[Tom McAllister]

Interesting how General Jackson's education and language skills helped to avoid a potential lethal escalation. I recall General Mark Milley making a speech last year where he talked about the importance of education and understanding ideologies different than your own. Knowledge and wisdom will be crucial if we are to have any chance of surviving.

[Salty Monke]

The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools.” - Thucydides. Most of western army is living with that value, there's a high emphasis of that whether it's in the USMC in Platoon level or British general staffs command course level.

[Salty Monke]

@Sc Ott GOP forget about Reagan. "How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin." American public is too deep into identity politics.

[Tom McAllister]

@Salty Monke - What a remarkable quote. Great post.

[Eric Hewett]

We crossed the border right at the beginning in 1999 when bondsteel was nothing but a company of tanks in the middle of a field. I went up to that airfield a few times and the prize was the mountain across the street. The Russians would let us go on the airstrip and the terminal no problem but we couldn’t get into what ever was inside the mountain. We could see a big concrete bunker looking deal at the top with 2 huge bomb craters next to it and there was a tunnel coming out of the bottom with a road that went across the street to the runway. Anybody have any idea what was inside that mountain besides planes.

[Nperez1986]

I remember this as a kid...not alot of people in the US even know what Serbia or Kosovo are :(

[The Schizo in your walls ⊘]

The graded school systems here really dont mention anything about these “smaller conflicts” compared to like both World Wars and Vietnam, Iraq, etc. Maybe in college lectures though.

[Casimir III]

Wow thank you Doctor Felton! This is what the History Channel was for before they became a reality TV show Channel 🤠

[MarkoSRBa02]

|two neutral countries fight" NATO: Lets demonstrate our power

[Peter]

Would be good to see Mark do a video on the Soviet-Afghan war, where the US used the Mujahideen to fight the Soviets in a proxy war, supplying them with weapons, stingers & training.

[Amadeo Komnenus]

and abandoned them, only to abandon them again 30 years later

[Afghan]

Milk Guzzler Nor the Soviets aswell.

[Afghan]

Milk Guzzler There would be no terrorists if Afghanistan remained a monarchy.

[Adrian Blakeney]

I was wondering if you would mention James Blunt, I heard him speak of this incident once. This is very poignant for me this one because my sister is on post as an FCO ambassador to Kosovo and I may visit. Very interesting Mark thank you.

[Maka]

Im interested to know if you spoke about this video with your sister

[Turbogerbil]

I was there at the time. I think that there is still a fair amount of information that is not in the public domain, including why the Russians felt it so important to secure the airfield - or what was on it. Rather amusingly, and in a a foretaste of current events, the Russians had deployed without any logistic support whatsoever, and - even as the stand-off was still ongoing - ended up asking the British for rations, water and POL.

[Stephen Bell]

I was in Bosnia as part of the QRF for MND-North of SFOR. We were ordered to seize bridges into Serbia to prevent the Russian logistical convoy from reinforcing the combat troops. This would have pit a light infantry company with no fire support against a Russian mechanized brigade. Really glad Gen. Sir Mike Jackson said what he said. We never made it out of the motor pool, the whole plan was called off.

[Serendipitous Slim]

The fact that WW3 was averted partially be the defiance of the dude who made “You’re Beautiful” is an incredible fact that I never would have predicted in a million years to be true.

[Venox]

As someone with a poor education from an under developed nation I sure appreciate Dr. Felton's channel to learn more about history.

[Mimosi]

I’m curious. what country are you from?

[Stoyan Vatsev]

James Blunt was a captain!!! Woow! Crazy! What a legend he is!!!!

[Jonathan Perry]

The way they shot down that f-117 with their low frequency radar was fascinating. It is very unreliable because of the noise that it picks up like birds and weather but if you get lucky it will pinpoint a stealth fighterhter

[Rudy Topo]

Is there a story out there about this?

[イタチうちは]

it was definitely smart by the serbian general but nato was also using the same path over and over so it definitely made it easier

[イタチうちは]

@Rudy Topo yeah there are plenty. just search f117 and results show up about it being shut down

[Random Guy]

Nah bro, we just didn't know it was invisible

[Luka Marko]

What you can't see can't hurt you

[Simon Barber]

Thanks Mark. You run a superb informative channel.

[Naldano Mavo]

I forgot this subtext of a very difficult history. Clark vs Mike Jackson where Clarks idealistic zealotry was tempered by Jackson's cold hard reality. I imaged Patton and Montgomery. Only this time, I actually admired them both. I decided that when great generals fight, it's generally only over who's got the right idea in the moment. And 'Passionately' is only correct if you don't have a better idea. Wait for the armoured Corp. Helicopters? A little too much, you're asking them to get destroyed. We get the right pieces in the rigjht places on time and in order. Wow, I was so optimistic back then, when I saw so many great men rise to the occassion! I wish I didn't know what i know by now. . How could ALL of that happened then rather perfectly, and why can't any lf the pieces land right this time?

[Jah Mah]

NATO & Russia, need to find peace, you know why, because its gonna take unity to get through this.

[Dayton Morehead]

A random memory I have from that time.... it was discussed alot whether there would be US ground troops in Kosovo, and it was pointed out that not one bridge in Kosovo was big enough to support the weight of an American tank. When asked why the US had designed such overly huge tanks the reply was that “the next war” was always envisioned as 10,000 giant Soviet tanks roaring across the farmland of northern Germany and we needed something big enough to stop them.

[Soup's World]

That is funny we drove over 3 bridges when we entered kosovo on the way to set up camp bondsteele, but we were limited to one armored vehicle on the bridge at a time, and there were a couple cute female mp’s making sure we only went one at a time

[stevie6621]

This paved the way for what is happening in Ukraine.

[Matija CG]

Interesting fact: During WW2 an air battle over Niš in modern-day Serbia occurred on 7 November 1944 between the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) and the Soviet Air Force, which was one of the few direct conflicts between these two nations.

[Stefan Joeres]

Pretty sure the US and Soviets fought each other during the American Invasion of Russia after WW1...

[Why are you reading this]

There were also dogfights between the UN and Soviet aircraft in korea

[wayne antoniazzi]

@Why are you reading this Actually it wasn't NATO in Korea, it was UN forces, but that's just a minor point. The interesting thing is Russian pilots were suspected of being in Korea flying North Korean and Chinese Migs, but there was no way to prove it until the Soviet Union collapsed and the information was revealed. It should be noted the Russians flying in Korea were doing so under the handicap of strict radio silence which made things very risky for them.

[Sto Pitas]

Mogu ti reći da dobar dio informacija ne dostaje .

[Lt. Lasereyez]

@Why are you reading this There were Soviet pilots in Vietnam as well

[Bret Bucher]

Thanks Mark what a great idea and you really are one of the finest ones showing history.

[Horace Morris]

I probably would have lived my entire life without knowing James Blunt was a military officer

[Милош Баскић]

Mark, Clinton saying that NATO would stop bloodshed was the same as Bush saying there are WMDs. Othewrise a great video.

[Eleanor Kett]

I remember this incident which began while I was vacationing in Thailand. I don't think today's military consists of too many hot heads aching for a fight. Let's hope the violence ends. Problem is there doesn't seem to be many capable negotiators among current leaders.