Mysterious ammunition in Ukraine. It comes from Russia's ally
Ammunition is reaching Ukraine from various directions of the world. Despite attempts to camouflage the deliveries, cases emerge where companies from countries considered allies of Russia are supplying it to Ukraine.
Online, there have appeared classes of grenades for AGS-17 machine grenade launchers caliber 30 mm, which were produced in 2023. As reported by the Ukraine Weapons Tracker profile, they come from the Serbian ammunition factory Sloboda located in the town of Čačak. It's worth noting that the manufacturer tried to disguise its origin by changing the factory code from the previous SČ to AA.
This is not the first case of Serbian ammunition being supplied to Ukraine, as we reported back in August about the presence of Serbian M62P10 120 mm mortar shells in Ukraine.
It is possible that despite the lack of political will of the Serbian authorities to support Ukraine, there are no limits there for a fairly developed arms industry producing Soviet-type weapons and ammunition.
Local companies can therefore officially produce weapons and ammunition for foreign customers in the form of Western countries, which then deliver them to Ukraine. This is an identical situation to Bulgaria, whose authorities did not hinder their defense industry in supplying weapons to Ukraine and making huge profits from the war.
Ammunition for machine grenade launchers in Ukraine
Machine grenade launchers, whether they are Western constructions like the Mk 19 caliber 40 mm or Eastern ones like AGS-17 caliber 30 mm, are support weapons similar to heavy machine guns like the Browning M2 "Ma Deuce" or DShK. Grenade launchers allow for shelling at a distance of 1 mile in the case of Russian design, or up to 1.4 mile for Western constructions.
In the case of the AGS-17 grenade launcher, the most popular are fragmentation grenades with a lethal blast radius of about 29-32 feet. They are equipped with a simple impact fuse that arms itself about 32 feet after leaving the barrel and detonates no later than after 27 seconds.
In the case of the AGS-17 grenade launcher, it is possible to fire 29 shots in just a few seconds, allowing for effective elimination of entire enemy assault groups, particularly in open fields. Ukrainians have even begun to equip these grenade launchers with thermal imaging sights for very precise shelling.
