Serbia Cancels Some Russian Defense Contracts

Serbia has broken several contracts with the Russian military industry due to its inability to supply weapons.

The Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army, General Milan Mojsilović stated this in an interview with local media — Novosti.

Mojsilović said that deliveries of contracted Russian weapons are virtually impossible at the moment, but Serbia is trying to find a way out of the situation through diplomacy.

He added that some of the contracts were broken and some were postponed in the hope that the situation would stabilize, allowing their implementation.

It can be assumed that this refers to the Pantsir-S1 air defense missile-gun systems, the purchase of an additional batch of which was announced by the country in 2021.

In addition, it is likely that the Russians did not have time to deliver some of the Kornet anti-tank missile systems.

At the same time, the Chief of the Serbian General Staff said that due to the proliferation of Soviet-era and Russian-made weapons in the world, Serbia can continue to maintain and operate existing weapons.

Serbian purchases

Serbia is actively buying Soviet-era and Russian-made weapons, including aircraft.

In September 2024, Militarnyi reported that the first Mi-35PN attack helicopters purchased from Cyprus were put on combat duty in Serbia.

The helicopters were overhauled by UTVA and received serial numbers from 201 to 206, and the full series is likely to start with 35201.

In early 2024, it was reported that the Serbian Ministry of Defense had decided to purchase used BTR-80A armored personnel carriers from Hungary.

In total, Serbia will purchase 26 BTR-80A armored personnel carriers, which Hungary received from Russia in 1996-1999 as part of compensation for the state debt from the Soviet era.