MOSCOW. July 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has completed withdrawing its peacekeeping troops from the Balkans.
"The withdrawal of peacekeeping troops from the Balkans has been fully completed in line with the task set by the supreme commander," Land Forces Deputy Commander for Peacekeepers Valery Yevnevich told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.
"The last train carrying the servicemen of the former Russian military contingent in Kosovo departed for Russia on July 23 and proceeded on schedule. It arrived at its destination, Nara, in the Moscow region this morning," Yevnevich noted.
"After the train is unloaded, some of the troops will continue to serve in the units from which they were dispatched to the Russian military contingent. Those whose contracts have expired will retire. The machinery will be shipped to the units to which it was assigned," he said.
The withdrawal by train and aircraft began on June 5. The Russian contingent that was deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the international stabilization force (SFOR) was pulled out on June 5-14. It was made up of 320 people.
The pullout of the Russian troops from the Kosovo force (KFOR) began on June 17. Prior to the withdrawal, the contingent included around 650 men.
During their service in Kosovo, Russian peacekeepers confiscated over 800 weapons, more than 400,000 charges and neutralized in excess of 12,000 explosive devises. Army doctors provided medical assistance to 37,000 people, half of which are local residents.
Russia disbursed over USD26m per year to maintain the peacekeepers in the Balkans.