The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) with the support of multiple Serbian paramilitary forces. The battle concluded with the defeat of the Croatian National Guard (Zbor Narodne Garde), the near-total destruction the city itself and the murder and expulsion of almost the entire Croat population of the city and its surrounding areas.
Between 18 November and 21 November, 1991, just after the city had finally fallen to the JNA, hundreds of prisoners of war and civilians were executed by Serbian paramilitaries. Many of the Croatians in the Vukovar hospital (around 260 people plus several medical personnel) were taken by JNA and Serb paramilitary forces to the nearby fields of OvĨara and were executed there.