- Title: RUSSIA: DEFENCE MINISTRY ANNOUNCES FIRST WAVE OF PEACEKEEPING TROOPS TO KOSOVO
- Date: 23rd June 1999
- Summary: IVANOVO, RUSSIA (JUNE 23, 1999) (REUTERS) 1. MV PARATROOPERS ON MOCK PATROL (4 SHOTS) 0.29 2. SCU PARATROOPERS CONDUCT MOCK ASSAULT ON RUINED BUILDING (5 SHOTS) 1.00 3. MV PARATROOPERS DRINKING WATER TOGETHER AFTER TRAINING EXERCISES 1.09 4. MV PARATROOPERS DOING EXERCISES/ PRESS-UPS AND SIT-UPS (3 SHOTS) 1.32 5. SCU (SOUNDBIT
- Embargoed: 8th July 1999 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: IVANOVO, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Reuters ID: LVA623MWGYZJHCVB32XVE1ZRRS3
- Story Text: The Russian Defence Ministry has announced it would
send its first wave of peacekeepers to Kosovo on Monday (June 29)
The Ivanovo 98th Paratrooper Division has been on
standby alert since Friday (June 18) when Russian and NATO
negotiators reached a deal on the structure of the Kosovo
peacekeeping mission.
Service in Kosovo is a coveted mission, as soldiers can
expect to receive a bonus of up to 1,000 United States
dollars.The average monthly salary in Russia's cash-strapped
military is 1200 roubles, or roughly 50 U.S.dollars.
Russia unexpectedly sent about 200 paratroopers to take
control of the airport in Kosovo's capital Pristina just
before NATO troops arrived on June 12.It is expected to
increase its peacekeeping force in the southern Serbian
province to 3,600.
The Federation Council, the upper house of parliament
whose authorisation is needed to send Russian troops abroad,
will meet on Friday (June 25) to consider President Boris
Yeltsin's request for a Russian peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.
Parliamentary analysts said the request was likely to be approved.
Last weekend Russia, which fiercely opposed NATO's 11-week
bombing campaign against its fellow Slav, Orthodox brethren in
Yugoslavia, reached agreement with the United States on the
nature of its peacekeepers' involvement in the Kosovo operation.
Under that deal, Russian peacekeepers would be deployed in
the U.S., German and French zones of responsibility in Kosovo
but would remain under Russian, not NATO, command.
The alliance rejected Moscow's request for its own zone in
Kosovo, saying this would effectively lead to the partition of
the province.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None