SEVASTOPOL. Oct 6 (Interfax-AVN) - The Yury Arshenevsky passenger and cargo vessel has delivered equipment for a Russian battalion that will help rebuild bridges destroyed during the hostilities in Lebanon, a spokesman for the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters told Interfax-AVN on Friday.
"The Arshenevsky, accompanied by the Pytlivy escort vessel, called at Beirut's harbor on Friday morning. It is expected to enter the port in the middle of the day," he said.
The battalion is to begin restoring a bridge outside the village of Damur, south of Beirut, and another one near the Lebanese-Israeli border on October 9, said Lieutenant General Ivan Tsygankov, chief of the Russian Defense Ministry's operational group in Lebanon.
This work is to be completed by October 23-24, after which the battalion will rebuild another four bridges to be selected by the Lebanese authorities.
"We are planning to complete all work at the beginning of December," Tsygankov said.