of Vitaljina in the eastern part of Konavle and Brgat to the east of Dubrovnik. Two days later, the Yugoslav Navy blockaded maritime routes to the city. On 26 September, the JNA renamed its Eastern Herzegovina Operational Group the 2nd Operational Group and subordinated it directly to the Federal Ministry of Defence and the JNA General Staff. Cokić was appointed the first commanding officer of the 2nd Operational Group but was replaced by General Mile Ružinovski on 5 October following the shooting down of Cokić's helicopter. Strugar replaced Ružinovski on 12 October. Order of battle The JNA tasked the 2nd Titograd Corps and the 9th Boka Kotorska Military-Maritime Sector (VPS)both of which were elements of the 2nd Operational Groupwith cutting off and capturing the Dubrovnik area. The 2nd Titograd Corps deployed the 1st Nikšić Brigade while the 9th Boka Kotorska VPS employed the 5th and the 472nd Motorized Brigades. The Corps boundary running north-to-south near Dubrovnik was set. The 2nd Operational Group also commanded the 16th Border Patrol Detachment and 107th Coastal Artillery Group, and mobilised Territorial Defence units from Herceg-Novi, Kotor, Tivat, Budva, Bar, Mojkovac, Bijelo Polje and Trebinje. Strugar was in overall command of the 2nd Operative Group while the 9th Boka Kotorska VPS was commanded by Vice Admiral Miodrag Jokić. Jokić replaced Admiral Krsto Đurović, who had died in uncertain circumstances hours before the offensive began. Major General Nojko Marinović, once commanding the 472nd Motorized Brigade and subordinate of Đurović, said that the JNA had killed the admiral because he opposed the offensive. Marinović resigned his post on 17 September and joined the Croatian ZNG. The JNA 2nd Operational Group initially deployed 7,000 troops and maintained similar troop levels throughout the offensive. The defences of Dubrovnik were almost non-existentat the outset of hostilities there were 480 troops in the city area, out of which only 50 had some training. The only regular military unit was a platoon armed with light infantry weapons that was stationed in the Napoleonic era Fort Imperial atop the Srđ Hill overlooking Dubrovnik. The rest of the troops in the area were poorly armed because the Croatian Territorial Defence had been disarmed by the JNA in 1989. Unlike elsewhere in Croatia, there had been no JNA garrisons or storage depots in Dubrovnik since 1972 and thus very few arms and munitions captured during the September Battle of the Barracks were available to defend