A Peculiar History.

A sort of Russia's atonement, I guess, for betraying Serbs in 1999.  I recall vividly when in a huge crowd of Serbs who went to greet Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexy II in Belgrade in 1999, visible were the banners with such message: Don't give us Patriarch, Give Us S-300s. That was my sentiment too. But Russia of 1999, led, if one may say so, by alcoholic low life and his cabal of "reformers" many of who were openly anti-Russian, was speedily shown her place by the US and she... obliged. Things changed since then, as did Russia, who was forced to change after NATO aggression against Serbia. 

MOSCOW/BELGRADE (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday a division of its S-400 missile defense system would take part in a military drill in Serbia, underlining Moscow's wish to keep a traditional ally on side even as Belgrade pursues links with NATO and the European Union. It will be the first time that the sophisticated S-400s, together with a Pantsir missile battery, will be participating in military exercises abroad, Moscow's Defence Ministry said in a statement. For its part, Serbia's Defence Ministry said the exercises - dubbed Slavic Shield 2019, aimed to simulate the "use of a joint (combat) group...in defending... against enemy reconnaissance and offensive actions". "Apart from anti-aircraft missile systems in use in the Serbian army, missile systems that are in use by the Russian Air Force will also be used" in the live-fire exercise set to run until Oct. 29, it said in a statement. The exercises began on Wednesday but were not made public until Thursday.

Anyone is 100% positive that all of those systems will get back to Russia? After all, this kind of statements DO mean something important:

The two countries have also boosted intelligence cooperation. On Wednesday, Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), told Serbian state-run RTS TV that the two countries were performing "complex mutual operations" to protect their external interests. Serbia has relied on Russia for support in its continued refusal to recognize the independence of its former southern province of Kosovo, which seceded in 2008 after a bloody guerrilla uprising. NATO peacekeepers remain in Kosovo. Serbia also depends on Russia for natural gas supplies and the largest local oil company, Naftna Industrija Srbije, is majority-owned by Russia’s Gazprom.

The West was behind gang-rape of Serbia based on a completely cooked "intelligence" which ignored completely the fate of Serbs, who were ethnically cleansed and are being ethnically cleansed in the illegal statelet of Kosovo. Obviously NATO had no inhibitions in supporting Kosovar organized crime and Islamism--a feature of the contemporary West from the times of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. We know the results, don't we? 

I am in no position to write on Serbia's internal dynamics--to be sure Serbia is filled with all kinds of Western "assets" and other "democracy"-activists--but there is very little doubt that many, very many, Serbs DO view Russia as their only chance at restoration of territorial integrity and, in the end, economic growth. S-400s and other systems can help ensure Serbia's safety from aggression. This was 9 months ago in Belgrade. No comments are necessary here. 

It is now up to Serbs themselves, Russia, it seems, will do her part. History is a peculiar thing, some things in it you just can't break.