MOSCOW. Oct 11 (Interfax-AVN) - A commission of the Moscow military district left for Kosovo early on Thursday to take control over the Russian Peacekeeping Contingent within KFOR.
The commission led by the district's deputy chief-of-staff, Major General Vasily Krotov, boarded on a military transport plane at the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow.
The district is to master control over the contingent from October 12 to 30 in accordance with Russian Chief-of-Staff Anatoly Kvashnin's directive, Krotov told Interfax-Military News Agency on the eve of his departure. The district is to deal with training and manning of all battalion-size task forces within the contingent, as well as auxiliary units. The General Staff will sill be in charge of the troops management, Krotov said.
The current commander of the contingent, Major General Vladimir Kazantsev, will be replaced in the transition period. He is likely to be succeeded by Major General Nikolai Kriventsov, head of missile troops and artillery in the 20th army.