Russia accuses Serbian arms industry of secretly arming Ukraine “Stab in the back”

Serbian defence enterprises continue to supply ammunition to the Kyiv regime, despite Belgrade’s officially declared neutrality, according to a statement from the press bureau of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) obtained by TASS.

The agency accuses Serbia’s military-industrial complex of “trying to stab Russia in the back.”

“The Serbian defence industry is trying to stab Russia in the back,” the statement says. “According to information received by the SVR, Serbian defence enterprises, contrary to the neutrality declared by official Belgrade, continue to supply ammunition to Kyiv.”

The SVR claims that these activities are masked by “a simple scheme involving falsified end-user certificates and intermediary countries.” NATO member states, particularly the Czech Republic, Poland, and Bulgaria, are said to be frequently involved in these schemes. Recently, “more exotic options” involving African countries have also been used for this purpose, the intelligence service asserts.

The SVR notes that Serbia’s contribution to what it describes as the West’s war against Russia — a war intended to result in Russia’s “strategic defeat” — amounts to “hundreds of thousands of shells for multiple launch rocket systems and howitzers, as well as millions of rounds of small arms ammunition.”

“Such supplies can hardly be justified on ‘humanitarian grounds,’” the SVR stresses. “They have one obvious purpose — to kill and maim Russian servicemen and civilians.”

The press bureau also accuses major Serbian defence companies of taking part in what it calls a “conveyor of death” organised in Serbia, a country traditionally seen as friendly to Russia. The companies named include Yugoimport SDPR, Zenitprom, Krusik, Sofag, Reyer DTI, Sloboda, Prvi Partizan, among others.

“It appears the desire of Serbian defence manufacturers and their backers to profit from the blood of their fellow Slavs has made them completely forget who their real friends and enemies are,” the SVR notes.

“Russia has repeatedly come to the aid of Serbia during the most critical moments in its history,” the agency says, citing the liberation from the Ottoman Empire, prevention of national catastrophe during World War I, the struggle against fascist occupiers during World War II, NATO’s bombing of Belgrade, and the Kosovo tragedy. “Throughout all these historical phases, the bonds of brotherhood and shared faith have remained unshakable in the relations between Russians and Serbs.”