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Russia accused Serbia of exporting arms to Ukraine, calling it a “stab in the back” from one of Moscow’s longest-standing European allies.
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) issued a statement on Thursday claiming that “Serbian defence enterprises, contrary to the ‘neutrality’ declared by official Belgrade, continue to supply ammunition to Kyiv.”
The statement alleged that the export of the Serbian arms to Ukraine was going through NATO intermediaries, “primarily the Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria.”
“Recently, exotic options involving African states have also been used for this purpose,” SVR said.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić denied the accusations on Friday, saying that although the contract with the Czech Republic does exist, it does not allow exporting the materiel to another country.
“For example, they correctly say that there is a contract with the Czech Republic. But no permission was given, and none of the (ammunition) was delivered” to Ukraine, Vučić told Serbian state broadcaster RTS.
He added that he had already discussed the issue of arms exports to Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin recently and that it was agreed that Moscow and Belgrade would create a “working group” to establish how Serbian-made weapons reached Ukraine.
Moscow slams ‘anti-Russian actions’
This is not the first time Vučić has had to respond to similar claims.
The Financial Times reported in June 2024 that Serbian ammunition worth €750 million has made its way indirectly to Ukraine.
In March, Belgrade denied it exported arms to Kyiv after Moscow demanded to know if it had delivered thousands of rockets for Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s all-out invasion.
Serbian arms’ presence in Ukraine, mostly Soviet-era calibre ammunition adopted as standard and manufactured in the former Yugoslavia, has been publicly discussed since 2023, but it is unclear why the Russian foreign security service decided to react now.
The SVR has claimed that the arms sales are being carried out through a “simple scheme using fake end-user certificates and intermediary countries” serving as “a cover for anti-Russian actions”.
The accusations out of Moscow went even further to say that “the contribution of Serbian defence industry workers to the war unleashed by the West, the outcome of which Europe would like to see as a ‘strategic defeat’ of Russia, amounts to hundreds of thousands of shells … as well as a million rounds of ammunition for small arms”.
“It seems that the desire of Serbian defence industry workers and their patrons to profit from the blood of fraternal Slavic peoples has made them completely forget who their real friends are and who their enemies are,” the statement said.
Vučić stated that the attacks on Serbia from the East and the West are “frequent” because Belgrade “leads autonomous and independent policies”.
Serbia is one of the countries in the Western Balkans that is considered a major candidate for EU membership. At the same time, Vučić has maintained close ties with Russia, including after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
He was among a handful of European leaders to attend Putin’s Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May, a decision Vučić defended by saying he was there to celebrate Serbia’s participation in liberating the continent from fascism in World War II.
Serbia also refused to join Western sanctions on Russia and hasn’t supported most EU statements condemning Moscow’s full-scale invasion, although it voted in favour of its condemnation at the UN.
Additional sources • AP
