15.08.2025.
Serbian Armed Forces provide assistance to residents of villages near Sjenica
At the request of local authorities, members of the Serbian Armed Forces have once again provided assistance to residents of villages near Sjenica in the face of intense summer heat and drought.
To help mitigate the impact of prolonged drought in rural areas, the Serbian Armed Forces have deployed three 3000-litre water tankers to deliver emergency water supplies since yesterday, and in recent days, military engineers have dug out new watering points and restored existing ones to ensure livestock – cattle, sheep, and horses – can access drinking water while grazing on pastures far from villages and family homes.Corporal Aleksandar Rakočević, a loader operator from the 210th Engineer Battalion of the 2nd Army Brigade, was engaged in cleaning out watering holes – locally known as “lokve” – where rainwater is collected for livestock in the area of the Crvsko village. He highlighted that the assistance provided by the Serbian Armed Forces is greatly appreciated by the locals.
— During these dry periods, we clean out the bottoms of the watering holes, which really helps when they start filling up with rainwater in the fall and spring. We’ve been doing this for years, and will continue doing it. The villagers are really thankful and happy, and we’re glad we can help in some way. We have cleaned out every watering hole in the village, and even widened some, so the livestock will have water for several months, emphasized Corporal Rakočević.
Rajko Jelić, a resident of the village of Crvsko, says that he takes his livestock to the mountain in early May, where he keeps them grazing until November, living in a wooden cabin without access to running water.
— The living conditions here have been affected by the drought, all our watering holes are empty. I must express my gratitude to the Serbian Armed Forces – what they have done means a lot to us, and I don’t know how I can repay them. Many thanks also to the municipality of Sjenica. Hopefully, God will send rain to fill these watering holes, but until then, we transport water with tankers pulled by tractors to water the cattle. Our households are big, each with 20 to 30 cows. We are thankful to the state for everything it has provided, but the drought has taken its toll. The military have built several large reservoirs – our “lokve” – which even the drought cannot dry up once they fill with water. Without the military’s help, these would have dried up within a few years, and people would have been forced to leave, Rajko Jelić, a livestock farmer from the Pešter Plateau, vividly described.As explained by the President of the Municipality of Sjenica, Radiša Knežević, the military is assisting the residents of villages on Mount Giljeva, where there are many households with both small and large livestock.
— We have called on the military to help clean the existing watering holes and to excavate new ones that will be useful to the local population in the future. The local government invests significant effort, working closely with our communal services to deliver water daily using tankers, which is then poured into the watering holes. Almost every year we call on the Serbian Armed Forces to help supply water with their own tankers. As experts point out, on a hot summer day, a single cow can drink up to 100 litres of water. When you multiply that by the number of cows – ranging from 30 to 80 per household – it becomes clear that livestock farmers require a substantial amount of water. We are grateful to the Serbian Armed Forces for their assistance, emphasized Knežević.
In addition to assisting with water supply and cleaning the watering holes, an engineering task force is also present in the Sjenica region, continuing the reconstruction of macadam roads. They are currently working on road repairs in the area of the village of Bare.
In this way, members of the Serbian Armed Forces help ease the lives and ensure the survival of residents in remote mountain villages, reaffirming their readiness to deploy at short notice and provide necessary assistance to the citizens of Serbia whenever needed.