MOD warns of another hoax on military movement

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the news being spread by social networks of a military movement reportedly heading towards the East or possibly towards Ukraine, as evidenced by the photos of SVK military equipment at Nitra Railway Station, is being treated as a hoax.

In fact, this was an in-country movement of Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade (AAMB) assets and air defenders from Nitra to the Training Centre Lešť to undertake scheduled training in the weeks to come. The movement was announced in advance on the MOD website and social media channels, see Plánované presuny; Facebook.

In response to the hoax, Chief of Defence Daniel Zmeko said: “I strongly object against any purposefully twisted information directed towards misleading the public and any indirect decline in the SVK citizens' trust in the Slovak Armed Forces. Every serviceman and woman does his and her maximum to deliver the security of Slovakia, and so they must be adequately prepared to protect it. Therefore, even under these circumstances and, of course, with the pandemic restrictions in place, it is necessary to develop and advance our capabilities, which, at times, necessitates movements of military equipment between training locations.”

Needless to add, SBAD training is key to the defence of our country and is given high priority by the SVK Armed Forces. It is, therefore, praiseworthy that our air defenders are conducting such training despite their ongoing intense deployment in support of the national health service. Even in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Armed Forces are obliged to develop their capabilities and to take on their statutory tasks. The defence of the Slovak Republic comes first among them. Understandably, military movements and training are instrumental to this mission.

The Ministry of Defence issues weekly traffic updates on scheduled military movements across Slovakia on the MOD website and social media channels to keep the public informed and to prevent disinformation from spreading, as in this case.