Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis denied reports on Monday that Greece had sent an anti-aircraft S-300 missile system of the Hellenic Armed Forces to the theater of war in Ukraine, calling it “fake news”.
In Monday’s press briefing, Marinakis categorically denied reports that surfaced in Greek media outlets stating: “There must be a limit to fake news, especially when it concerns the country’s national interest and its international image. Such a thing does not exist, and I categorically deny it. There was not even the intention for Greece to jeopardize the country’s defense capabilities,” he said emphatically.
As a NATO ally, Greece has provided both military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine amid the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.
Athens also supplied Ukraine with multiple rocket launch systems, missiles, armored troop carriers, and air defense systems capable of protecting an entire major city from Russian airstrikes, reports say, although the exact number of military equipment and munitions has not been disclosed.
Greece acquired the Russian S-300 PMU1 system after the 1998 Cyprus Missile Crisis – a standoff between the Cypriot democracy and Turkey after the prior had planned to deploy the system on its land – and is operated by the Hellenic Air Force on Crete.
