05.03.2022, Moscow.
The Stinger man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), which the West supplies to Ukraine, may appear in Europe and fall into the hands of terrorists, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. The relevant commentary was published on March 5 on her Telegram channel.
Zakharova noted that the Western organizers of these deliveries cannot but be aware of the growing threat of these high-precision weapons falling into the hands of terrorist elements and gangs not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe as a whole.
“The flow of these types of weapons into the shadow circulation and into the hands of terrorist networks is only a matter of time. MANPADS pose a huge threat to civil aviation, and ATGMs pose a huge threat to railroads and infrastructure,” she said.
The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman recalled that, in the early 2000s, Western countries spent huge sums on destruction of surplus MANPADs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Montenegro, Macedonia, Cambodia and Nicaragua, initiated as part of the Partnership for Peace program. Besides, in the Middle East, the Pentagon conducted a multilevel program on buying back MANPADS “Stinger”, earlier supplied by the USA to Afghanistan, from the Mujahideen, militants of Al-Qaeda (organization banned in Russia) and the extremist Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (organization forbidden in Russia).
“Once again, we call on the EU and NATO countries to stop thoughtlessly ‘pumping’ the unviable Kiev regime with the latest weapons systems to avoid enormous risks to international civil aviation and other transport communications not only in Europe, but also beyond its borders,” Maria Zakharova concluded.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
