In August 1991 , the Battle of Vukovar began . Eastern Slavonia was gravely impacted throughout this period , starting with the Dalj massacre , and fronts developed around Osijek and Vinkovci in parallel to the encirclement of Vukovar . In September , Serbian troops completely surrounded the city of Vukovar . Croatian troops , including the 204th Vukovar Brigade , entrenched themselves within the city and held their ground against elite armored and mechanized brigades of the JNA , as well as Serb paramilitary units . Vukovar was almost completely devastated ; 15,000 houses were destroyed . Some ethnic Croatian civilians had taken shelter inside the city . Other members of the civilian population fled the area '' en masse '' . Death toll estimates for Vukovar as a result of the siege range from 1,798 to 5,000 . A further 22,000 were exiled from Vukovar immediately after the town was captured
Dalj massacre
Dalj massacre
Croatian War of Independence