{"id":196986,"date":"2025-12-31T16:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T14:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=196986"},"modified":"2026-01-03T05:06:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T03:06:45","slug":"the-story-of-the-only-serbian-soldier-who-stayed-in-kosovo-milos-dressed-in-a-military-uniform-with-a-rifle-in-hand-said-you-go-i-am-staying-photo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/the-story-of-the-only-serbian-soldier-who-stayed-in-kosovo-milos-dressed-in-a-military-uniform-with-a-rifle-in-hand-said-you-go-i-am-staying-photo\/","title":{"rendered":"THE STORY OF THE ONLY SERBIAN SOLDIER WHO STAYED IN KOSOVO: Milo\u0161, dressed in a military uniform with a rifle in hand, said: “You go, I am staying!” (PHOTO)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the days of the Serbian exodus from Kosovo and Metohija, one man dared not to accept that evil fate and resisted it with all his might!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That man was Milo\u0161 \u0106irkovi\u0107<\/strong>, a forgotten hero from Belo Polje who embodies the famous Serbian “inat” (defiant stubbornness). In June 1999, the withdrawal of our army and police from Kosovo and Metohija began. Fleeing with them were the bare-handed Serbian people, who for the umpteenth time were the targets of Albanian terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In those days, most cities in Kosovo and Metohija were emptied of Serbs. These tragic events did not bypass the city of Pe\u0107. Serbs began to leave the villages of Siga, Brestovik, Pe\u0107ka Banja, Ljevo\u0161, and finally, they left the city itself. Two kilometers southwest of Pe\u0107 lies Belo Polje.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belo Polje was inhabited by a majority Serbian population. For that very reason, they became targets. Many Serbs were killed in those days in Pe\u0107 and its surroundings, as well as in Belo Polje. During that time, Metropolitan Amfilohije\u2014alongside Bishop Artemije, the late Patriarch Pavle, and Bishop Atanasije Jevti\u0107\u2014visited Serbs throughout Kosovo and Metohija. Often, those in danger were taken into monasteries protected by international forces (though many monasteries were not protected and were subsequently turned into piles of stone).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While visiting the few Serbs remaining in the Pe\u0107 region, Metropolitan Amfilohije learned from the Italians that one man remained in Belo Polje\u2014a village by then completely deserted\u2014wearing a uniform and carrying a weapon. That man\u2019s name was Milo\u0161 \u0106irkovi\u0107. He was 38 years old and had been a forester before the war; during the war, he served as a guide for Serbian special forces, valued like gold because he knew every rock and bush in the Pe\u0107 area. Amfilohije decided to send Father Radomir Nik\u010devi\u0107 to see who this man was and to persuade him to move to the safety of the Patriarchate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Radomir found Milo\u0161 armed and in uniform. Despite his pleas for Milo\u0161 to pull out of Belo Polje, Father Radomir realized he was standing before the only remaining Serbian soldier in Kosovo and Metohija<\/strong>, a man full of national pride and defiance. When he asked him one last time to follow him to the Patriarchate, he received an almost threatening reply: “Shut up, or I\u2019ll kill you! Shame on you all, you\u2019ve all betrayed us!… You go, I am staying!..”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon returning to the Patriarchate, having failed his mission, Father Radomir told Amfilohije: “His whole house is riddled with bullets. He is barricaded in a dead concrete corner of the ground floor with a pile of ammunition around him. He is determined to defend his doorstep until death. He thanked us for the concern, but decisively refused to leave his home, abruptly cutting off any further persuasion…” Shaken by the warrior’s resolve, Father Radomir blessed him for his final feat with the words: “You have chosen a good part, Milo\u0161 of the heart of Obili\u0107! God bless you in your good deed, Milo\u0161 \u0106irkovi\u0107!”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

STAYED TO DEFEND HIS ANCESTRAL LAND: Milo\u0161 \u0106irkovi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the next few days, Father Miljko and Rade Pavlovi\u0107 brought food to Milo\u0161 daily. Each time, they saw more spent shell casings and more dead attackers in front of his house. Day and night, they stormed Milo\u0161, but each time they got the worst of it. Milo\u0161 surprised them every time because he constantly changed positions throughout the abandoned village. One night, two Albanians crept up to the bed where he was sleeping, but he managed to defend himself. He killed one, and the other fled. From then on, he slept very little. However, on the eighth day, Father Miljko and Father Rade arrived in Belo Polje to bring food, but there was no sign of Milo\u0161. His house was burned down, and 12 dead attackers were counted in front of it. In front of the village school, two burned-out armored vehicles were found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crews inside them had also burned. In his house\u2014damaged by bombs, bullets, and fire\u2014only a few things were found: An icon of St. Alimpije the Stylite (Milo\u0161\u2019s family patron saint), the Holy Scriptures, several church books, family photos, and a gusle cassette about the death of the Kosovo knight Jovan Mila\u010di\u0107. To this day, it is not known what happened to Milo\u0161.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

THE BODY WAS NEVER FOUND: He fought until his last breath<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is believed that on June 20, 1999, he was wounded, overpowered, and captured. However, this is an assumption. It is certain, though, that he is no longer among the living. He made the enemy pay dearly for his life; he killed at least 18 opponents, and it is believed the number is significantly higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The items found in his house were kept in the Patriarchate quarters before being taken by his relatives. Some claimed to have seen Milo\u0161 in those days in Andrijevica, Montenegro, but that information proved incorrect. His brothers testified that they last saw him the day they were leaving Belo Polje.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At his brothers’ urging to get on the bus and go with them, Milo\u0161\u2014dressed in his military uniform with a rifle in hand\u2014simply told them: “You go, I am staying.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was the last Obili\u0107 of the 20th century, and unfortunately, perhaps the last Obili\u0107 of the 21st century as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source:<\/strong> Glasholmije.rs<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the days of the Serbian exodus from Kosovo and Metohija, one man dared not to accept that evil fate and resisted it with all his might! That man was Milo\u0161 \u0106irkovi\u0107, a forgotten hero from Belo Polje who embodies the famous Serbian “inat” (defiant stubbornness). In June 1999, the withdrawal of our army and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":100000205660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[10475,10474,10476],"class_list":["post-196986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-kosove-and-metohija","tag-milos-cirkovic","tag-serbian-fighter","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196986"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196987,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196986\/revisions\/196987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}