MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax-AVN) - The 1st separate airborne brigade of the Russian Land Forces that is operating within SFOR will be halved to 270 servicemen in late April or early May, a competent source in the Defense Ministry said on Monday.
"The brigade will be transformed in the Russian Military Contingent within SFOR, and its functions in northeastern Bosnia will be considerably reduced," the source told Interfax-Military News Agency.
Under a regulation issued by the Russian government, units, military equipment and materiel will be relocated from Bosnia by railway. The first train carrying the brigade's personnel and military equipment will leave Bosnia on April 22.
The reduction is not the first one among Russian peacekeepers in Bosnia. In 1992 personnel of the brigade was reduced from 1,600 to 1,200 servicemen. In summer 2001 the brigade was transformed into the 22nd separate paratrooper regiment and reduced at 300 people. In November 2001 the regiment was transformed into a separate brigade once again while its personnel was reduced at 600 servicemen. The brigade was handed from the Airborne Troops to the Land Forces.
At present the brigade involves some 600 servicemen. It is under command of Colonel Sergei Prokoshev.