KOSOVO: CONVOY OF RUSSIAN TROOPS ENTERS

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A convoy of Russian troops and Armoured vehicles crossed the Macedonian border at Blace Thursday and made its way to Pristina, the regional capital of Kosovo.

Their arrival in the province co-incides with the departure of two Russian military transport planes from Russia, taking 100 peacekeepers and several tons of equipment to the region.

Under a deal reached with NATO, Russia is to deploy a total of 3-thousand 600 peacekeepers in Kosovo.

Russian troops are arriving in Kosovo en masse, as part of the NATO agreement to divide the peacekeeping duties among different nations.

More than 450 soldiers in around 130 vehicles crossed the Macedonian border on Thursday on their way to the capital Pristina.

This group of soldiers, tanks and trucks were greeted with the V for Victory signs as they made their way down the road from the border in Blace to Pristina on Thursday.

They are to work with NATO peacekeepers in the Serbian province under an agreement hammered out between alliance and Russian officials.

They will be based near the airport on the outskirts of the city.

The troops disembarked from four Russian warships at the Greek port of Thessaloniki earlier on Thursday.

Their arrival co-incided with the departure of two Russian military transport planes from Russia, taking a further 100 peacekeepers and several tons of equipment to the region.

Under a deal reached with NATO, Russia will deploy a force of 3-thousand 600 peacekeepers.

Already more than 800 troops and technicians stationed at the Slatina airport in Kosovo's capital, Pristina.

Col. Gen. Anatoly Sitnov, chief of army supplies, said Russia's Defence Ministry will purchase 100 new armoured personnel carriers, communications equipment and uniforms for the Russian peacekeepers.

Sitnov said the BTR-80A troop carriers would be delivered to the peacekeepers in Kosovo by the end of the year.

The equipment will include Akveduk communications systems and upgraded bulletproof vests.

The Russian military is practically broke, and the peacekeeping operation in Kosovo is already costing 60 million (m) U-S dollars that critics say Russia doesn't have.

The Defence Ministry did not say where it would get the money for the new equipment.
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