(Image: U.S. Army, public domain)
Fierce fighting during the Kosovo War of 1998 – 1999 saw many armoured vehicles destroyed and aircraft shot down, not to mention the tragic loss of civilian life. This ill-fated Yugoslav MiG-29 fighter jet was shot down by NATO forces on March 27, 1999 outside the town of Ugljevik in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Like these secret crashed aircraft, its identifiable shape is testament to the sheer strength of this Russian-built jet.
(Image: Mika Rantanen, cc-sa-3.0)
As in other war zones, abandoned tanks litter the region. Incredibly strong and heavy, this Soviet-era T-55 tank served with the Serbian military before it was destroyed near the town of Prizren in Kosovo. Rusting away into earthy tones, it exists as a grim reminder of the dark days when this quiet landscape was devastated by war.
(Image: Mika Rantanen, cc-sa-3.0)
Another armoured vehicle carcass, this abandoned hulk lies near the town of Glogovac in the Pristina district of central Kosovo. The vehicle is a Soviet-built 2S1 Gvozdika 122-mm self-propelled howitzer. Once a formidable and terrifying weapon of war, its gutted remains are little more than a tragic historical record, like this downed MiG-21 fighter that almost resembles a piece of urban art.
