From time to time, some very unexpected facts about weapon supplies to Ukraine appear in the public domain. Countries believed to favor russia or stay within "humanitarian aid limits" suddenly turn out to be directly supplying or selling weapons via third countries. One of such countries is Serbia, as follows from the findings by the Ukrainian Weapon Tracker OSINT community.
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The open-source researchers found indications that Serbia secretly sold 3,500 rockets for BM-21 "Grad" MLRS to Ukraine. The community adds that the photos showing characteristic features and markings were spotted several months ago, but published only now.
"It appears it was not only Grad rockets," the community noted in a comment to the post.
What's interesting, Serbian Krušik company supplied Ukraine with a special type of a "Grad" rocket, precisely "Grad 2000" with a twice as big firing range: 40 km compared to the 20 km of the standard version. A rocket's weight is 69 kg, where 19.1 kg is the weight of warhead. Characteristic distinction is the engine.
It's not even the first time Serbia "backstabs" russia in such a manner. Earlier, the country ordered Rafale aircraft to replace its MiG-29 fleet of 14 aging vehicles.
Explaining the decision to buy French fighters instead of russian ones, President Aleksandar Vučić said his country wants to have combat-ready planes, while buying spare parts from russia became impossible since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions by the EU.
Previously, Defense Express reported, that in the same manner, covertly, Bulgaria defied all expectations and supplied Ukraine with a lot of fuel and ammunition in the times of dire need – in the very first months of the russian invasion, according to an investigation by Geman media.
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