About 100 bridges and 60 highways were destroyed in the fighting, which claimed some 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israeli lives. Russian sappers, who pledged to work 10 hours a day to rebuild six bridges and adjacent roads in two months, started the reconstruction effort October 9.
The IL-76, en route to the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow, is carrying 226 servicemen from the 101st Russian bridge-building battalion. A Tu-154 with 50 security guards is set to fly out later in the day, the spokesman said.
Russian combat engineers have built nine bridges, or three more than was initially planned, during their two months in Lebanon.
A total of 100 Lebanese servicemen have been trained in this period, the spokesman said, adding that the battalion's construction equipment and vehicles have been turned over to Lebanese engineers.
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who is expected at the Chkalovsky airfield for an arrival ceremony, earlier said that Russia's contingent in Lebanon was not part of the UN peacekeeping group, but operated on the basis of bilateral agreements between the Russian and Lebanese governments.
Ivanov also said Russia will spend 500 million rubles ($18.6 million) on assistance to Lebanon.
