Serbia's hidden support: 800 million euros in arms for Ukraine

One of the more interesting cases of significant but hidden support for Ukraine is the delivery of Serbian-made weapons estimated to be worth 800 million euros. We explain how Serbia delivered these and how it did so.

According to the Financial Times, since February 2022, Serbia has delivered weaponry worth 800 million euros to Ukraine through third countries. Officially, Belgrade prohibits the export of weapons to Ukraine or Russia, but there are no such restrictions for countries like the USA, Spain, or the Czech Republic.

Serbia's defense industry employs approximately 20,000 people, primarily producing post-Soviet weapons and ammunition. Unsurprisingly, the local industry wanted to take advantage of this prosperous time with the silent consent of the Serbian government, provided that arms were not delivered directly to the countries involved in the conflict.

This behavior is very similar to Bulgaria, which provided Ukraine with up to one-third of the needed ammunition in the early stages of the war. Such actions, which conceal the true source of weapons or ammunition, have been successfully used for decades because the political responsibility for the supply falls on the intermediary.

It's worth noting that Serbia maintains a strong pro-Russian sentiment, a legacy of the 1990s when Moscow condemned the Allied Force operation. Belgrade is also favorable to Russia due to its non-recognition of Kosovo's independence on the international stage.

From newer batches of equipment produced after the breakup of Yugoslavia, there are 100 mm caliber shells M63P1 for T-54/55 family tanks or field guns M1944 (BS-3) produced by the company Balkan Novoteh or 120 mm caliber mortar shells M62P10 produced by Krušik.

The former are high-explosive fragmentation rounds containing 3.3 lb, allowing for targeting distances up to 12.8 miles, while the latter contain 5.3 lb of TNT and enable bombardment distances up to 4 miles. These are very simple shells for rather old systems, but in an age of ammunition and equipment shortages, even such old items are better than nothing. Additionally, smaller items like grenades for AGS-17 grenade launchers produced in 2023 by the Serbian company Sloboda have also appeared in Ukraine.

However, the deliveries of much more modern 122 mm caliber G-2000 rockets from the EDePro company are more interesting. These are rockets for the BM-21 Grad launchers, which have only appeared at arms fairs in recent years.

They offer, in contrast to the standard rockets from the Grad, a doubling of the range from 12 miles to 25.2 miles, according to the manufacturer. Moreover, the Serbs boasted a smaller salvo dispersion, which amounted to 0.96 percent circular error probable (CEP) at the maximum distance, but the rest of the rocket remained practically unchanged. It is still an unguided solution with a 40-42 lb warhead, providing a blast area of several dozen meters.

Serbian rockets are produced in a cluster variant containing bomblets or PTM-3 mines. These enable the attack on area targets or the mining of a specific area.