Sat, Feb 11 2012

Russia seizes Bulgaria-bound weapons hardware

Fri, May 29 2009 10:47 CET

byNick Iliev

1606 Views 1 Comment
Russia seizes Bulgaria-bound weapons hardware

The S-300PMU2 system, From left to right: 64N6E2 detection radar, 54K6E2 command post and 5P85 TEL. 
Photo: Wikipedia

Russian officials have captured 20 tons of sensitive weapons hardware and detained more than 10 people who were involved in the smuggling operation, the Russian federal customs service said in a statement on its website. Bulgaria was on the list of destinations for the stolen equipment.

The captured kits included missile parts, classified components for the S-300 air-defense system, S-75, S-125 and S-200 surface-to-air missile systems, among others, the Russian customs said in a statement on its website.

Three former Soviet republics - Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine - along with Bulgaria, the only Nato member on the list, were the main destinations. The smuggling operation was carried out by former and active Russian military personnel, whose identities have not been disclosed.

The latest capture of illegal weapons smuggling was reportedly only a part of a larger operation which has been going on for some time. Previously, Russian and other European customs had thwarted attempts to smuggle missile components for Latvia and "an unspecified Asian country", the Russian customs said.

Bulgaria has 10 S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile systems, developed in the Soviet Union in 1970s and later modified to intercept ballistic missiles.

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Comments

Anonymous Anthony Ratkov Sat, May 30 2009 14:22 CET
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The European Union and NATO spend less (on a per capita basis) on Bulgaria than they spend on any member state. Obviously it's gotten so bad that Bulgaria has been compelled to smuggle in weapons from Russia. Of course,this sort of weapons smuggling wouldn't happen if NATO and the EU had provided an adequate level of military support to Bulgaria.


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