The family Nebojša Pavković, former commander of the Third Army of the Yugoslav Army and chief of the General Staff, sentenced to 22 years in prison for war crimes in Kosovo, filed a lawsuit against NATO because Pavkovic allegedly died of poisoning from depleted uranium used by NATO in 1999 during the bombing of FR Yugoslavia.
In 2009, the Hague Tribunal convicted Pavković of crimes against humanity, i.e. deportation, murder and persecution Albanians in Kosovo, and he served his sentence in Finland. In September 2025, he was released prematurely for health reasons and returned to Belgrade on a government plane, where he died on October 20, 2025, at the Military Medical Academy, at the age of 79.
What does the lawyer of Pavković's family claim?
The lawyer of Pavković's family, Srđan Aleksić, told the tabloid "Kurir" that an accredited Italian laboratory confirmed that Pavković's tissue had detected the presence of "uranium and several toxic metals in dramatically elevated concentrations, which is a direct consequence NATO bombings".
Aleksić claims that Pavković got two cancers - thyroid gland and pancreas, with the assessment that "the appearance of two or more cancers at the same time is a typical handwriting depleted uranium".
"Such an identical practice was also recorded among Italian soldiers who stayed in Kosovo and Metohija. As the commander of the Third Army of the Yugoslav Army, he moved around the entire Kosovo and Metohija and was therefore exposed to extreme contamination," Aleksić told "Kurir".
That lawyer also claims that "according to research by the prestigious University of Berkeley", the amount and concentration of contamination in the places where depleted uranium was dumped in Kosovo and Metohija "is 300 times greater than the amount and contamination in Hiroshima and Nagasaki!".
"Uranium (U-238) was detected in Pavković's tumor tissue in a concentration of 23,80 micrograms per kilogram of tissue, and other heavy metals that are proven to cause cancer were also found well above the permitted limits. Italian courts have so far issued over 550 final verdicts in favor of their soldiers who fell ill after the mission in Kosovo," claimed Aleksić.
Italian lawyer Angelo Tartaglia, who deals with cases of uranium patients, especially Italian soldiers, told Raš Today that heavy metals and depleted uranium were found in Pavković's tissues in values much higher than normal. According to him, this corresponds to contamination from the war, which is achieved through inhalation or intake of particles. Tartalja called Pavkovic "a victim of war and depleted uranium."
Controversies related to depleted uranium
The question of the use of depleted uranium during the 1999 NATO bombing is one of the most contentious and emotional issues related to that war, because there are two completely different sets of claims.
First of all, it is indisputable that NATO used ammunition with depleted uranium, but it is debatable whether that depleted uranium caused a significant increase in cancer incidence in Serbia.
According to NATO data and later United Nations (UN) research, more than 30.000 depleted uranium missiles were used, with a total weight of about 10 tons. The parts of Kosovo and Metohija and the south of Serbia, especially the area around Bujanovac, Preševo and Vranje, were targeted the most.
What international investigations have shown
In 2001 and 2002, experts from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) investigated locations affected by depleted uranium munitions.
Soil contamination was detected at some locations and remains of penetrators and traces of corrosion were found. There was a possibility of local groundwater pollution if the remains are not removed, which is why decontamination and long-term monitoring were recommended.
However, UNEP has not concluded that there is a proven cancer epidemic caused by depleted uranium.
This is where the biggest controversy begins, because numerous Serbian doctors, politicians and associations claim that after 1999, there was a significant increase in malignant diseases and that one of the main causes is depleted uranium. Among its most famous representatives is former Minister of Health Danica Grujičić, who spoke several times about the possible connection between the bombing and the subsequent increase in the incidence of malignant diseases.
On the other hand, international organizations, NATO and most major epidemiological studies claim that it has not been proven that depleted uranium has caused an increase in cancer rates in the population. Those organizations indicate that the increase in the number of malignant diseases can have several causes, such as the aging of the population, smoking, air pollution, industrial pollution and more efficient diagnostics.
Real journalism costs money, and we will not be bought by tycoons and corporations. Support us with a one-time or monthly donation. The time for it is now!
