04.04.2020.

Eleven airplanes delivered medical aid from the Russian Federation

This morning, at 6:30 am, the eleventh plane with medical and protective equipment landed at the “Pukovnik-pilot Milenko Pavlović” Airport in Batajnica which was flown from the Russian Federation to Serbia following the agreement of two presidents and supreme commanders of the armed forces, Aleksandar Vučić and Vladimir Putin. Yesterday, the aid was delivered by six airplanes, and during the night and morning, by 3.25am, the remaining five airplanes landed at the Batajnica airport.

The first of 11 airplanes with medical aid from the Russian Federation was greeted by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia Ana Brnabić, the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin, the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, General Milan Mojsilović and The Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Aleksandar Botsan Harchenko.

The teams from the Russian Federation are composed of one general, 42 officers, 42 NCOs and two members of the Russian Ministry of Health, led by Major General Mikhail Chernishov, the Chief of NBC Defence Troops in the Western Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Welcoming the assistance from the Russian Federation, the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin pointed out that the medical aid, experts, technicians, vehicles, everything that was sent to help us would mean a lot and would strengthen our capabilities and capacity to fight the coronavirus.

- This shows us that we are not alone, that the Russian Federation and the Russian people are always there for us in times of hardship, that they are always there and that Serbia is no longer and will never be alone, said Minister Vulin.

He confirmed that the Serbian Armed Forces will provide all necessary assistance to medical and expert teams from the Russian Federation.

- We will be together wherever the Crisis Management Team orders us to be, we will do everything for the citizens of Serbia to feel better and more secure and to really help them - the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin said.

Immediately after the first plane landed at “Pukovnik-pilot Milenko Pavlović” Airport in Batajnica, the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin and the Chief of the General Staff, General Milan Mojsilović, with associates, met with Major General Mikhail Chernyshov, the Chief of NBC Defence Troops in the Western Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. At the meeting they discussed and agreed upon engagement plans and assigned tasks to teams from the Russian Federation, which will work intensively in the coming days, together with members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces and health professionals to fight the spread of the coronavirus in Serbia.

The Russian experts are divided into eight medical teams, and each team will have a general practitioner, an epidemiologist, an anaesthesiologist, a medical technician and an interpreter. The rest of the delegation is made up of NBC experts.

The aid includes 16 special motor vehicles intended for the disinfection of facilities and roads, as well as a large amount of medical and protective equipment that Serbia needs in the treatment of patients with coronavirus and in the fight against the spread of Covid-19.