BIRN CLAIMS: BiH Shells Transit Serbia, End Up with Supplier to Ukrainian Army

According to official documentation obtained by BIRN, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia, with the consent of the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs, approved the transit of 960 Bosnian-produced 155mm HE M107 artillery shells across Serbian territory on June 12.

Artillery shells from Bosnia and Herzegovina, sold to a Czech company that officially supplies the Ukrainian army, received permission from the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs for transit through Serbia, with the approval of all relevant ministries – and this, at a time when Moscow is publicly criticizing Belgrade for supplying Kyiv with ammunition, BIRN writes.

Russian Criticism Amidst Serbian Transit Approvals

Serbia has recently faced sharp criticism from Moscow for Serbian weapons and ammunition ending up in the possession of the Ukrainian army, BIRN reminds. Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), after years of ignoring reports on the matter, issued two sharp statements in just one month. In the first, on May 28, it stated “that the desire of Serbian arms manufacturers and their patrons to profit from the blood of a fraternal Slavic people has completely suppressed the awareness of who their true friends are and who their enemies.”

While publicly fostering a narrative of military neutrality and closeness to Moscow, the Serbian government sells ammunition which – via third countries that are formally the end-users – ends up in the possession of Ukrainian armed forces. After years of denial, President Aleksandar Vučić himself admitted this practice in an interview with the Financial Times in June 2024.

However, in addition to weapons and ammunition produced by Serbian factories ending up in Ukraine, BIRN reveals that Serbia is also approving the transit of artillery ammunition across its territory that is destined for companies supplying the Ukrainian army.

PROČITAJTE VIŠE:

Czech Republic as “End-User”

The documents list the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic as the “end-user,” a country that is one of Ukraine’s biggest allies and which, since February 2024, has been leading the Initiative to Deliver Artillery Ammunition to Ukraine.

The seller is the Bosnian-Herzegovinian company Podin doo, and the shipment was ordered by the Czech company Omnipol a.s., one of five companies tasked by the Czech government with procuring artillery shells for the Ukrainian army.

Vuk Vuksanović, a senior researcher at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCBP), told BIRN that the Serbian government, which has for many years built a pro-Russian image among some of its voters, is definitely not comfortable with information leaking that Serbia is helping Ukrainian defense capabilities.

“Public evidence that Serbia is enabling ammunition deliveries to Ukraine, as well as Russian warnings, do not support the image that Vučić has built at home for years,” Vuk Vuksanović told BIRN.

BIRN’s investigation sheds light on a part of the supply chain that provides valuable shells to Ukraine – from a small intermediary firm in Western Herzegovina, through a majority state-owned factory in Sarajevo with an influential American minority owner, all the way to a leading Czech defense company, a key player in the Czech Initiative to aid Ukraine.

You can read the full investigation on the BIRN website.