Russia donated dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers to Serbia
The day before, a ceremonial transfer of Russian military equipment for the needs of the Serbian Army took place at the Miya Stanimirovich barracks in the Serbian city of Nis.
The transfer of T-72 MS tanks and BRDM-2MS armored personnel carriers took place within the framework of personal agreements between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Aleksandar Vucic.
As reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent , the ceremony was attended by Serbian Defense Minister Nebojša Stefanović, Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces General Milan Mojsilović, Russian Deputy Defense Ministers General of the Army Nikolai Pankov and Colonel General Alexander Fomin, as well as Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko.
“This is a gift from the Russian Federation to the Army of the Republic of Serbia worth about 75 million euros, which consists of 30 BRDM-2MS armored personnel carriers and 30 modernized T-72 MS tanks, based on the agreement reached in Sochi between the two presidents Vučić and Putin.
We are very grateful to the Russian Federation, because this is a significant strengthening for the Serbian army,” Stefanovic said, recalling that the first part of this Russian gift – 11 tanks and 10 armored personnel carriers – had already arrived in Nis in November last year. – Today there will also be an opportunity to see the cooperation of our special forces at the Oresac training ground, where you will see their joint work in the fight against terrorists. Russian paratroopers, together with soldiers of the 72nd Special Brigade, will perform final exercises, demonstrating all elements of their training and equipment.”
The Serbian Minister of Defense thanked “our friends from the Russian Federation” and “Minister Shoigu” for the fact that Russian special forces arrived in Serbia, and their Serbian colleagues had the opportunity to seriously practice tactics and techniques with them.
“We want to cooperate with everyone, we want to be able to learn from the best, and Russian special forces and members of Russian units are certainly like that,” Stefanovich noted. – I look forward to the continuation of the process of equipping the army, I want the work to be even more intense, and now we have the opportunity every year to delight with what our army has done, with the new means with which it has armed itself, as well as with the new abilities that it has acquired “, concluded Minister Stefanović.
In turn, Russian Ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko noted that today shows and once again proves that cooperation between the two countries, especially military-technical, is developed, strong and has a future.
“Military-technical cooperation, which is best carried out on the basis of the consent of our presidents, is very important and in itself creates a good and solid basis for comprehensive cooperation between Russia and Serbia,” Bokan-Kharchenko said. – Russia will contribute to strengthening the sovereignty, integrity and defense capability of Serbia and the neutral status of Serbia, since “neutral status must be able to defend itself.”
It is symbolic that at the handover ceremony, General Fomin presented General Moisilovich with the key to the tank. On this occasion, the Russian military noted that another successful step has been taken in strengthening Russian-Serbian military-technical cooperation. He emphasized that the equipment transferred by Russia meets all modern standards, and it will strengthen the combat potential of the Serbian army, allowing it to ensure its national sovereignty.
Russia donated dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers to Serbia.