A Russian military cargo plane carrying S-400 air defence system components lands at the Murted military airbase in Ankara, Turkey on July 12, 2019. (Photo by Turkish Defense Ministry)
MOSCOW, July 14 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday confirmed that it continued to deliver batches of S-400 air defense system components to Turkey.
"On July 14, 2019, as part of the fulfillment of contractual obligations, the aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Defense Ministry carried out the regular delivery of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system to Turkey," the ministry said in a handout to Xinhua.
It added that the delivery was carried out in strict accordance with the terms of the existing contract and within the time limits agreed by the two sides.
Earlier in the day, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Twitter that the fifth, sixth and seventh shipments of S-400 items from the Russian side had been delivered as planned.
The Turkish side has been receiving batches of the system's components for the past few days and implied that the deliveries would continue despite Washington's threats of punitive measures.
The United States warned previously that it might deny Turkey the purchase of F-35 fighter jets if the latter proceeds with the S-400 deal.
According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, the deployment of S-400 missile systems is likely to begin in October.
The S-400 air defense system, the most advanced of its kind in Russia, is designed to defeat a wide range of modern and prospective air attack weapons in conditions of intensive radio resistance. It is capable of destroying targets at a distance of up to 400 km and a height of up to 30 km.