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(12 Jun 1999) Natural Sound Russian peacekeeping troops arrived into Kosovo's capital, Pristina, early on Saturday morning, taking NATO forces by surprise. The armoured column was greeted with delight by local Serbs who see the Russians as their allies. There was shouting and fireworks as thousands of people crowded the main street of the city to greet the soldiers, who arrived aboard trucks and troop transports. Moscow has previously assured NATO it would not try to go into the Serbian province alone. Local Serbs had gathered on the streets of Pristina after local radio broadcast reports that the Russian column was on its way. When it finally arrived the Serbs could hardly contain their delight, firing guns into the air and letting off fireworks. The Russians were greeted as a liberating force and their arrival took on the character of a victory parade. The convoy crept through an avenue jammed with people, many waving Yugoslav and Russian flags and shouting, “Russia! Russia!.“ The Serbs see the Russians as their allies and expressed relief they had arrived ahead of NATO. It was unclear how many Russians were in the convoy, but early estimates were that there were between 200 and 300. The troops, originally part of the Russian contingent stationed in neighboring Bosnia, crossed into Serbia early on Friday and headed south, toward Kosovo. On Friday there had been conflicting reports over whether the column would actually head into Kosovo or wait on the border until NATO forces had entered the province. In the end almost everyone was taken by surprise when the Russian vehicles appeared on the streets of Pristina, including, it appears, Russia's foreign minister. Ivan Ivanov called his own army's move into Pristina 'unfortunate' and said they had been ordered to leave the city. In a report from Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital, the ITAR-Tass news agency later said the decision to go all the way to Pristina was made by the Russian defence ministry in consultation with the Yugoslav military. Up to 10 thousand Russian troops are eventually expected to participate in the international peacekeeping force in Kosovo but it is not yet clear whether they will be under NATO control. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive:
