More tanks come to us: “Aid from Russia worth 180 million dollars”

As he says, this aid consists of 30 Russian T-72 tanks for the Serbian army and 30 modernized BRDM armored personnel carriers.

He pointed out to Sputnik that this is exactly an indicator that relations between Serbia and Russia have not been altered at all due to the absence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Belgrade.

That delivery was agreed by President Aleksandar Vučić with President Vladimir Putin, our interlocutor reminds us. In light of all the new circumstances, many wondered if it would take place, Lazanski says, adding that as time passes, it turns out that all the malicious people they suspected were wrong.

“These are generally reconditioned tanks where everything has changed. The basic armor has been kept, which has been replaced with a new additional armor, the engine, the tracks have been changed, the fire control device is new, the optoelectronics and the The tank cannon are new. Anti-tank missile protection. From a 125mm caliber cannon, you can not only fire a tank grenade, but also an anti-tank missile, which our M84 could not, “explains Lazanski.

Russian military aid worth 180 million dollars

Each tank barrel has its own shelf life and after a certain number of years or shells fired, it must be replaced. There is a Jugoimport SDPR factory in Velika Plana, says Lazanski, who has a pipeline and works tank pipes for our M84 tank, but the T72B1MS is more modern than our M84.

“The value of this modernized Russian tank is not less than five million dollars, which multiplied by 30 is 150 million dollars. To that, add 30 modernized BRDM2 armored personnel carriers with heavy machine guns, as well as new optoelectronics and armor. That could be around a million. Altogether, Russian aid is 180 million dollars, and to that we must add six MIG-29s, “says the Serbian ambassador to Russia.

He underlines that Serbia has never received such a gift since then and emphasizes that we must not forget that our pilots are educated free of charge. The Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu, also signed that we should have a greater number of pilots trained in Russia on Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters.

A message to NATO members

As for those who like to compare donations from the West with those from Russia, Lazanski tells them that they must not forget what that same West destroyed in the 1999 NATO aggression in Serbia.

“The lowest estimate of the damage was 50 billion dollars. Well, gentlemen of the West, invest at least the damage that was inflicted on us in the war, which was a crime against peace and against international law, and in which most of the targets were attacked in Serbia. “And you are obliged to repair that damage. So, when he talked about the amount of donations from the West and what comes from Russia, he always corrected the calculation with the data of the damage they caused us. Only then can we be objective, “Lazanski emphasized.

Asked whether Serbia should fear the reaction of the European Commission, given that they also considered the purchase of the anti-aircraft system “Pancir”, Lazanski is determined that Serbia is a sovereign country with an independent foreign policy to which the EU aspires, but to at the same time we proclaim a military policy. neutrality.

“We will not enter into any military alliance, and we buy weapons mainly guided by our security interests without political pressure. If someone in the EC makes such a statement and it bothers them that we buy weapons from Russia, China, Israel and Turkey, they should know that” We are also diversifying our range of military products, and if anyone in the EU is bothered by that then they should apologize, and we may be bothered by the fact that Romania bought the US Patriot system worth four billion dollars, and our neighbors. “Lazanski. Asks how the EC does not blame the Bulgarians for the Russians modernizing their MIG 29 and concludes that the small EU officials are training the rigor of someone who is not a member.