Serbian firm refutes selling missiles to Ukraine

The Krusik arms factory did not sell rockets to the Ukrainians, the Serbs said after documents regarding the delivery appeared on social media. The company also notes that they call into question the authenticity of the documents and condemn the journalists' action as a means of tarnishing Serbia. While there appear to be attempts to drag more and more countries, including Serbia, directly or indirectly into the war, the West is increasingly criticised for deepening the devastating war with arms shipments.

WORLD POLITICS MARCH 1. 2023 17:18

Serbian missiles allegedly shipped to Ukraine through intermediaries

Weapons manufactured by Krusik are transported to Ukraine via Slovakia and Turkey with the help of intermediaries, as reported by several news portals. 3,500 Serbian missiles were delivered to the war-torn country, N1 wrote, for example, citing Russian media sources.

„Serb rockets fly from Ukraine towards Russian citizens,” mash.ru wrote in an article.

The Russians’ article presents the route of the weapons and relevant documents.

The alleged contracts for the sale also appeared on social media. According to the documents posted on Twitter, weapons were sold to Ukraine’s Defence Ministry. The authenticity of the documents presented as proof of the sale is unclear. If the allegations prove to be true, then the deal concerned 122mm M-21 type rockets.

Krusik denies any involvement in the sales

Following media reports with this information, Krusik issued a statement denying that the company had anything to do with the end users in Ukraine and expressed doubts about the authenticity of the contracts on the sale and purchase of missiles.

„Through no fault of its own, Krusik has again come into the centre of events with negative implications. All this is the result of unprofessional journalism,”

the Serbian company stated in connection with the case and criticised media outlets saying:

„As many times before, certain media outlets reported on the sale of Krusik rockets without any prior fact checking and ignoring the harmful effects of the information they publish in a rush. Regarding the matter, we would like to inform the public that the Krusik company has no connection whatsoever with missile sales to end users in Ukraine. After reviewing the documentation published, and taking into account the possibilities offered by computer programs and journalists’ creativity, we express doubt about the authenticity of the documents,”

the statement reads.

At the same time, Krusik has called on the media to check the authenticity of information before they publish it, as this kind of approach casts a bad light on Serbia, the country’s arms industry and the factory.

Photo: Defence ministry

Serbian minister: no arms sales to Ukraine or Russia

Serbia’s defence minister also denied any arms deliveries from Serbia to Ukraine or Russia. Milos Vucevic spoke about the subject in Parliament after an opposition MP asked him about information published in Russian media that 3500 rockets had been transported from the Serbian weapons factory through Turkey and Slovakia to the Ukrainian armed forces.

“Serbia is not shipping weapons to either Ukraine or Russia,”

Vucevic emphasized.

The Balkan country does not sell weapons to the parties at war, but the country has the right to sell equipment it produces to other countries. “Whether private companies buy on third markets and sell to companies in other countries is not Serbia’s business, that is international trade,” Vucevic said.

The minister emphasized, however, that Serbia’s weapons industry must develop.

„We have the right to export like everyone else. We are not looking forward to a conflict in Ukraine or on any other battlefield. But, no one can punish Serbia by banning it to export because there is doubt about where the shipment will end up and how,” said Vucevic.

“Western weapons deepen the war”

While Western powers slam the countries that do not send weapons to Ukraine, the West is also being criticised for deepening the war by the arms transports. As V4NA previously reported, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and activist Adolfo Perez Esquivel opined:

The West is making a huge mistake by supplying weapons to Ukraine, as if it were feeding a monster.

The United States and Europe have provided Ukraine with large quantities of weapons and ammunition to help defend itself, but stocks are running low and supplies are being stalled because there is not enough production capacity to meet the needs. There is a type of howitzer ammunition of which Ukraine uses up as many in two weeks as the manufacturers can produce in a year.

The amount of artillery being used is staggering, NATO officials also say. In Afghanistan, NATO forces might have fired up to 300 artillery rounds a day and had no real worries about air defence. But Ukraine can fire thousands of rounds daily and remains desperate for air defence against Russian missiles and Iranian-made drones.

“A day in Ukraine is a month or more in Afghanistan,”

Camille Grand, a defence expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, who until recently was NATO’s assistant secretary general for defence investment, told The New York Times.

Europe is witnessing unprecedented devastation, with thousands killed or injured in the battles and bombings.

Thousands of soldiers are wounded in combat, many with permanent injuries that will forever remind them of the horrors of war.

Many others, however, are killed on the frontline, never to return home.

The cemeteries are full of new graves. Many people upload videos and pictures on social media in memory of their loved ones.

 

WORLD POLITICS

Tags:

Krusik, Milos Vucevic, serbia, ukraine