MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/. Russia has donated to Syria three battalion sets of S-300PM missile systems of eight launchers each, a military diplomatic source told TASS on Monday.

"On October 1, three battalion sets of S-300PM systems of eight launchers each were delivered to Syria," the source said.

"These systems were previously deployed at one of the Russian aerospace forces’ regiments which now uses the S-400 Triumf systems. The S-300 systems underwent capital repairs at Russian defense enterprises, are in good condition and are capable of performing combat tasks," the source said, adding that the S-300PM systems were handed over to the Syrian side free of charge.

According to the source, along with the launchers Russia delivered more than 100 surface-to-air guided missiles for each battalion.

An agreement on supplies of Russian S-300 missile defense systems to Syria were signed as far back as 2010 but was later frozen. Following the incident with the Russia Ilyushin-20 reconnaissance plane over the Mediterranean, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on September 24, 2018 that Russia would supply S-300 systems to the Syrian army to reinforce its combat capacities. On October 2, Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin that the S-300 systems had reached Syria.

On Tuesday, Shoigu said Russia had supplied Syria with 49 pieces of equipment as part of the S-300 delivery intended to boost security of the Russian taskforce in that country. The equipment included radars, control vehicles and four launchers. According to the minister, the delivery was finished a day ago.

The S-300 is an air defense missile system able to eliminate advanced aircraft, including planes using stealth technology, medium-range ballistic missiles, tactical and cruise missiles, and also airborne early warning and control (AWACS/AEW&C) aircraft as well as reconnaissance and strike systems.