“For example, how Greece came to be in possession of 20,000 AK assault rifles is at least an interesting story, with no small element of irony,” it says.
Writing for oryxspioenkop.com, Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans refer extensively to “Greek support for the Ukrainian Resistance Army”.
In particular, they report that so far, almost all EU and NATO member states have provided varying degrees of military support to assist Ukraine in its fight against the Russian military. While the transfer of an S-300PMU SAM battery from Slovakia and the supply of Javelin and NLAW ATGMs from the US and the UK have attracted a great deal of public attention, many more countries have contributed in their own respective ways.
One of these countries is Greece, which has pledged to provide military assistance to Ukraine since February 27. It consisted of 20,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 815 disposable RPG-18 rocket launchers and an unknown number of 122mm unguided rockets. At least two consignments of aircraft worth ammunition and ammunition were sent to Ukraine shortly afterwards, where the weapons are currently being used in action against Russian forces, the article said.
Since then, Greece has been mentioned many times as a possible source for additional weapons systems. More specifically, Greece has a huge arsenal of Soviet-made weapons, with which the Ukrainian forces are already familiar (unlike most western types of armaments delivered today). This includes the S-300PMU-1, Tor-M1 and 9K33 Osa SAM systems in addition to multiple rocket launchers (MRLs), armored combat vehicles (AFVs) and other equipment. It is certain that the US for this reason considered Greece as a possible source of Soviet armaments that could be put into service immediately, while similar efforts were made with Cyprus for the supply of SAM Buk-M1 and Tor-M1 systems. [3] However, in early April, the Greek government formally rejected the supply of such equipment on the grounds that it would not jeopardize its own defense capabilities, and later confirmed that it had no plans to send additional military equipment to Ukraine.
Although the Greek government’s statements were certainly disappointing for Ukraine, which has few other opportunities to acquire longer-range SAM systems such as the Tor and Buk, the supply of advanced weapons such as the Osa and Tor-M1 could severely weaken the attitude of Greece towards Turkey. While the US has promised to compensate countries if they decide to supply high-quality equipment to Ukraine or to develop temporary US systems in that country, there are few Western systems that could adequately replace those currently in use with Greece. The Greek Armed Forces would probably not otherwise be in a position to procure replacement systems due to their limited funding, while the delivery of replacement systems from the US is expected to provoke strong reactions from Turkey.
While Greece is the only NATO country to have the Tor, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania have a significant number of 9K33 Osa systems, and are therefore more reasonable sources of such armaments, with the S-300PMU-1 in particular being one of the most valuable assets of Greece (at least on paper). Greece’s S-300PMU-1, received from Cyprus as a result of the Cyprus missile crisis in the late 1990s, is towed by KrAZ-260B semi-trailers, in contrast to the heavier tracked vehicles or MAZ-543M trucks often associated with S-300s.
Therefore, only for PMU-1 radar systems, development can take up to two hours, significantly reducing its regular mobility and exposing the systems to Russian UAVs that can direct ground-based ammunition to their deployment location. Ukraine has already found this to be the hard way, losing 12 5P851A semi-trailer launchers (used with the S-300PT SAM system) in the early days of the war, the article further supports, adding:
Although the supply of up to 20,000 AK Kalashnikov assault rifles, 815 RPG-18s and 122mm unguided missiles (for MRL BM-21s or RM-70s) lags far behind such deliveries of heavier armaments, this does not mean that there is little interest. to note about this armament. For example, how Greece came to possess 20,000 AK assault rifles is at least an interesting story, with no small element of irony.
Under the pre-revolutionary Yanukovych government, Ukraine was willing to generate revenue from shady arms deals and did not discriminate much between the parties involved. Thus, when the Greek authorities received information that the ship Nur-M sailing under the flag of Sierra Leone bound for Turkey was actually carrying weapons destined for Syria or Libya, we can not know who the intended recipients in the countries would be. they. This may be one of the reasons why an anonymous Ukrainian official allegedly stated that it was in fact Russia that leaked the agreement.
The cargo of about 56 containers with weapons, including 20,000 AK rifles, remained under Greek supervision until recently. With Ukraine refusing to export these weapons, they found their way back to Ukraine, to be used against the Russian army instead of the ongoing MENA civil wars – a result that should have seemed impossible just a decade ago.
In addition to various types of Russian air defense systems, Greece also has a diverse arsenal of other Soviet-made weapons systems, including upgraded infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) BMP-1A1 Ost, more than 100 artillery RM-70 submachine guns (12 MRLs). ATGM) 9M111 Fagot and 9M133 Kornet and ZU-23 AA guns. Everything, except the ATGM Kornet, was taken from the former East German army reserves, which means that Greece will have to ask Germany for permission to transport them to Ukraine. With Ukraine already receiving significant quantities of IFV BMP-1 from Poland and the Czech Republic, along with hundreds of APCs from various other nations, a German permit will not be the biggest obstacle, but a actual transfer may still be considered unnecessary. .
The decision of the Greek government not to supply additional armaments, including SAM systems, will undoubtedly be a disappointment for Ukraine, but at the same time it is not a complete surprise given the full context of the situation. Through the supply of assault rifles, RPGs and unguided missiles, Greece has already been included in the long list of countries that have provided military support to Ukraine, which, although unlikely to make headlines, together will make a significant contribution to the cause of Ukraine.
