Russia signed an agreement with the EU on November 5 on the deployment of a 200-strong peacekeeping contingent and four Mi-8MT helicopters in the Central African region for up to a year.
"Overnight on December 2-3, a military transport aircraft made a third flight to deliver goods and personnel from a helicopter base in Russia to the Republic of Chad," said Vladimir Drik, an aide to the Air Force commander.
Drik said on board the Il-76 cargo plane were five service personnel - drivers and medics - who would complement the 17 peacekeepers from the helicopter unit that had already been deployed in Chad.
In addition, Russia already has a helicopter support group deployed in neighboring Sudan. The unit comprising 120 personnel and four Mi-8 helicopters provides transport and rescue services for UN military observers in Sudan.
The foreign ministers of the 27 EU-member states approved in April a plan to send a peacekeeping mission to Chad and the Central African Republic, devastated after five years of clashes between Chadian rebels and government troops trying to oust the country's President Idriss Deby, who seized power in 1990.
In the latest conflict, over 700 people, including 400 civilians, were reported to have died in February this year following fighting triggered by a rebel assault on the capital of Chad, Ndjamena.
The EUFOR contingent, comprising 3,700 personnel from 14 EU countries, began a year-long UN humanitarian mission in March to help protect the civilian population and provide humanitarian aid in the country's troubled eastern region.
Chad gained independence from France in 1960. Since 2003, Chad and Sudan have accused each other of inciting conflict on their common border, which includes most of the troubled west Sudanese region of Darfur.
