Russia Receives Request from Serbia for S-300 System Supply, Belgrade Denies

A Russian military and diplomatic source told TASS on Wednesday that Russia had received an official request from Serbia on supplies of S-300PMU-2 missile systems in 2021.

However, Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin issued a statement on Thursday stating that the reports on purchase of Russia’s S-300 missile systems were not true.

"Serbia has a high level of cooperation with Russia, but the news on buying S-300 systems is inconsistent with the reality," the minister said in a statement.

Vyacheslav Davidenko, an official spokesman from the Russian weaponry trading company Rosoboronexport also told TASS the exporter had not received the query yet.

Serbian Prime Minister Alexander Vucic said in April 2017 his country would like to have two battalions and a command point of the Russian antiaircraft missile system S-300 Favorit. Earlier, he said S-300 systems were overly expensive for Serbia but Russia had voiced its intention to help through certain agreements.

S-300PMU-2 Favorit is an antiaircraft missile system with a capability for destroying targets at distances of up to 300 km and altitudes of up to 27 km.