RIA: arms supplies to Ukraine from Serbia and BiH continue through third countries
TASS and RIA Novosti reported that enterprises from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to supply weapons to Kiev, despite the ban. The source of the agencies noted that the companies consider the restrictions imposed by the authorities to be rather formal and use the method of delivery through third countries with fake certificates to circumvent them. It was announced last year by the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation. At that time, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that some of the SVR's statements were untrue, and promised that the deals would be monitored more closely.
Enterprises from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine, despite the ban. This was reported by TASS and RIA Novosti, citing a source.
According to the source, the restrictions imposed by Belgrade and Sarajevo are rather formal in nature and do not entail any practical consequences. The source called it significant that after these measures came into force, not a single Serbian company has so far been punished for illegal supplies.
He noted that
"In particular, we are talking about the intentions of the Serbian company Zenitprom d.o.o. to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with 50,000 unguided 122 mm caliber rocket shells for the Grad MLRS. The Slovenian company IZOP-K d.o.o. is involved in this scheme, which will supply Zenitprom d.o.o. with ammunition components, including five thousand fuses manufactured by the Bosnian company Binas d.d. Together with Serbian parts, they are planned to be sent to Poland for final assembly," the source told TASS and RIA Novosti. News.
The source also added that the Slovenian company undertakes to ensure the receipt of an end-user certificate on behalf of the Polish Ministry of Defense.
A shot in the back of Russia
In May 2025, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) announced that Serbian military companies were supplying ammunition to Ukraine, despite the fact that Belgrade openly declared its neutrality.
The agency found out that the enterprises used "fake certificates": the end user and intermediaries were changed in the documents, and the papers themselves confirmed the peaceful destination of the cargo. Most often, NATO member countries were mentioned in the certificates: the Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria, but African states also appeared there.
The SVR said that in this way Serbia handed over to Kiev "hundreds of thousands of shells for MLRS and howitzers, as well as millions of cartridges for small arms," and called it "a shot in Russia's back."
"It seems that the desire of Serbian defense workers and their patrons to profit from the blood of fraternal Slavic peoples made them completely forget about who their real friends and who their enemies are," the ministry noted.
What was the response in Serbia
Commenting on the statement of the SVR, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic noted that some of the department's statements were not true, and added that he had discussed this issue with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
"We have set up a working group together with our Russian partners to establish the facts... For example, they correctly claim that there is a contract with the Czech Republic. But no permission was given, and not a single missile was delivered," Vucic stressed.
The head of Serbia also promised to give an order that in case of suspicion of misuse of weapons by end users and sending them to battlefields without Belgrade's knowledge, such contracts will not be fulfilled. On June 23, he said that Serbia had suspended the export of ammunition, and now "special and special solutions" were needed to send them abroad.
Subsequently, he repeatedly said that Belgrade does not provide military assistance to Kiev and does not intend to change its decision on this issue. However, in November 2025, Vucic noted that Serbia would still continue to sell ammunition, as tens of thousands of citizens depended on it, and admitted that some of the Serbian weapons still end up in Ukraine.
"We have a problem now because we have to sell it to someone. And we will sell it to whomever we can to earn some money, but we try to take care not to see these munitions in this conflict zone. But it happens from time to time. After all, we have to pay our workers," the Serbian president explained.
Eva Vishnevskaya
