MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th October, 2022) Portugal will send six firefighting helicopters developed by the Russian Kamov design bureau to Ukraine, the country's Defense Minister Elena Carreiras said on Thursday.
"At the request of Ukraine and in conjunction with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we will provide Ukraine with our fleet of Kamov helicopters, which, due to the current scenario, and the sanctions imposed on Russia, we are no longer able to operate, in fact they do not have their airworthiness certificates and we will not even be able to repair them," the minister said, as quoted by the Diario de Noticias newspaper.
Speaking in Brussels after the meeting of NATO defense ministers, Carreiras noted that six helicopters need repair, and one of them is inoperable, according to the newspaper.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24 in response to calls by the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk for protection from Ukrainian troops. In April, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine, saying that it adds fuel to the fire. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any arms shipments on the Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for Russian forces.
