If a friend turned out to be not a friend… Serbian-made missiles got into Ukraine

Ivan Zubov

A scandal is breaking out in Serbia related to the publication in the media and social networks of photos of missiles for the Grad MLRS produced in this country and seen in service with the Ukrainian army.

122-mm ER Grad 2000 (G2000) missiles, which are manufactured in Serbia, have a maximum range increased from 20 to 40 kilometers, and it is easy to distinguish them by the characteristic rocket engine with rectangular edges of stabilizers, experts write.

As an excuse, the Serbian media write that Canada and the United Kingdom buy these ammunition, and only then ship them through third countries to Ukraine. The delivery route, according to experts, is as follows: Serbia – Turkey – Slovakia – Ukraine.

However, logic suggests that Serbia could not have been unaware of the final destination of these products: for whom else can NATO countries buy Soviet missiles, if not for Ukraine? In addition, experts noted that the standard marking on these missiles has been changed, and this clearly indicates that Serbian suppliers knew perfectly well where their products would go and tried to hide it.

On this occasion, parliamentary hearings on the sale of 3,500 missiles for the Grad MLRS to Ukraine have begun in Belgrade, the Mash channel reports. The deputies were interested in the question: how could the Serbian intelligence and Foreign Ministry allow the supply of 122-mm missiles to Turkey, which, firstly, produces the same warheads itself, and secondly, supplies weapons to Ukraine?

It turned out that a company associated with the arms baron Slobodan Tesic, whose name is in the Interpol database, participated in the supply chain, and in addition, he helped the United States bomb Libya.

However, Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic, a supporter of the country's accession to the EU, said that this is just a business, and the Serbian authorities have nothing to do with it.

Interestingly, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic himself told reporters literally the following: "The furious conflict in Ukraine continues. The offensives of both are expected, everyone is in a hurry, so there will be offensives from both sides. In such conditions, everyone is in a hurry to achieve any results. Western leaders told me: "We have a conflict in Europe, we are part of it, even if we openly say that we are not." And they say that Belgrade will lose a lot or everything if we don't behave properly..."