MOSCOW. May 15 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia withdraws its excessive units from the Balkans, but will retain an optimal contingent of about 1,000 servicemen in Kosovo and Bosnia, Land Forces Commander and Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Kormiltsev said in an interview with the Gazeta newspaper published on Wednesday.
"We will not leave the Balkans," said Kormiltsev who is in charge of peacekeeping operations in the Russian Armed Forces. "As it has been agreed with NATO member nations and the KFOR command, we will preserve 350 people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 650 people in Kosovo, while at present we have about 2,000 servicemen there," he said.
Major improvements happened in the Land Forces after its main command was restored, Kormiltsev went on. "Very serious problems would have emerged in maintenance of the country's defense capability" if the troops had functioned without the main command for two more years, he stressed.
"Elaboration of the combat capability enhancement program for the Land Forces for the period of up to 2010 is nearing completion," Kormiltsev said. He stressed that the program would regulate "all aspects of the troops' life and activity ranging from capital repairs, servicing and modernization of assets to improvement of the establishment." Development prospects for each military branch are discussed by military councils. For instance, development prospects of the missile troops and artillery have been discussed recently. The next to be discussed are the air defense and army aviation.
"The program has a special section devoted to the state defense order where the share of the Land Forces amounts to 28 percent," the commander said. According to him, "we will abandon developments that have been worked on in vain for 10 to 20 years" starting from 2003, for they have become worn-out and outdated. "We must develop new armaments that will be up-to-date in 10 years," he stressed.
Kormiltsev also said that the strength, number of armaments and training level of the Land Forces were sufficient to be sure that "we will not be defeated by anybody in a local or regional war."