The senators thereby upheld a motion by Russian President Vladimir Putin to send contract servicemen and equipment to help the war-ravaged country restore its destroyed infrastructure.
Israeli military operations against the Lebanon-based radical group Hizbollah in late July-early August claimed the lives of over 1,000 Lebanese civilians, forced nearly a quarter of the country's population to flee, and demolished some 100 bridges and 60 highways. The total damage inflicted is estimated in the billions of dollars. About 160 Israelis also died.
General-Colonel Dmitry Bulgakov, a Defense Ministry deputy logistics chief, told senators that the 100th bridge battalion, formed solely for this mission, includes a total of 307 servicemen, who will restore bridges and roads, as well as clear mines during their three-month stay in Lebanon.
He said the battalion, set to depart by plane from the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow October 3, will erect five high-tech Sarm road folding bridges.
"No other country has such bridges," he said.
The battalion's equipment, which comprises 71 units and vehicles, will be delivered to Lebanon by ship via Russia's southern port of Novorossiisk, with the first consignment scheduled to arrive at the Black Sea port September 28.
Russia's deputy prime minister and defense minister Sergei Ivanov said earlier this month that Russia's contingent in Lebanon will not participate in the UN peacekeeping group, but will operate on the basis of bilateral agreements between the Russian and Lebanese governments.
The UN is presiding over humanitarian efforts and is to deploy 15,000 peacekeepers in southern Lebanon to ensure a ceasefire after month-long fighting between Hizbollah and Israel.
Russia has already provided $2 million worth of aid to Lebanon during the crisis, when it sent four aircraft with goods requested by the Lebanese government to Cyprus, where they were passed on to UN workers for delivery to Lebanon.
