Russia has pledged to send a bridge-building battalion 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.
"The plane [a An-124 Ruslan heavy cargo plane] has delivered 21 combat engineers and camp equipment," said Ivan Tsygankov, deputy head of the logistics service of the Russian Armed Forces.
"We are planning to set up a camp by October 8," he said, adding that the rest of the battalion would arrive on six transport planes by Friday.
He also said that the equipment necessary to rebuild six bridges will be delivered to Lebanon by sea.
The Russian ship Yury Arshenevsky, which left the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk October 1 with combat engineers and bridge-building equipment, is scheduled to arrive at El-Jiya, a port in southern Lebanon, October 4 or 5.
"We are planning to start bridge repairing work October 9," Tsygankov said.
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.
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's deputy prime minister and defense minister Sergei Ivanov earlier said 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.
