Part of the equipment included in the first shipment of the S-400 air defense missile systems, which was sent to China under the 2014 contract, has been damaged by a storm and returned to Russia, the press service of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation told TASS on Friday.

"In order to implement a contract on supplying the S-400 air defense missile systems to China, a vessel carrying support equipment departed from the Ust Luga port in the Leningrad region in late December. However, on its way to China, the vessel got caught in a strong storm, which damaged part of the equipment. A decision was made to return to the port of departure," the press service said.

Work is currently underway to assess the damage in order to make it possible to cover losses in accordance with insurance. After the work is completed, undamaged equipment will be sent to the customer, the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation added.

The damage will not affect the timeframe for the implementation of the contract on supplying the S-400 air defense missile systems to China, the press service said.