On May 30, an explosion occurred at the defense plant "Krusik" in the Serbian city of Valjevo, reported the local portal N1. According to its data, seven people were injured and hospitalized with minor injuries. The plant's statement said that the explosion occurred during scheduled work on pressing explosives for ammunition and their caps.
On the eve, Moscow accused Belgrade of supplying weapons to Ukraine through a veiled scheme via third countries. The Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) characterized this as a "conveyor of death" against Russian military and civilians. "The cover for anti-Russian actions is a simple scheme using fake end-user certificates and intermediary countries. Among the latter, NATO countries, primarily the Czech Republic, Poland, and Bulgaria, are most often mentioned. Recently, exotic options involving African states have also been used for this purpose. The contribution of Serbian defense manufacturers to the war unleashed by the West, which they would like to see result in a 'strategic defeat' of Russia in Europe, is estimated at hundreds of thousands of shells for MLRS and howitzers, as well as a million rounds for small arms," — stated in the official SVR statement. Among the Serbian defense enterprises listed is the "Krusik" plant, producing ammunition, as well as anti-tank missiles and mortars.
In response to Moscow's accusations, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated that the country would start refusing buyers in ammunition supplies if it finds out that Ukraine would be the final recipient of the weapons. "I will definitely issue an order and a warning that in case of suspicion of misuse by end-users and sending to battlefields without our knowledge, such contracts will not be fulfilled," — Vučić said on Radio and Television of Serbia.
About arms supplies from Serbia, which ultimately ended up in Ukraine, last year wrote Financial Times, noting that the total supply amount reached approximately 800 million euros.
In the state defense industry of Serbia, 23 thousand people are employed, and from the private sector in the military sphere, another 25 thousand Serbs are "indirectly dependent," earlier the Serbian government stated that it would continue arms supplies because "our factories must live and work."