MOSCOW - The Russian military said Tuesday it will scale back its peacekeeping operations in Bosnia by 300 servicemen, leaving a contingent of 270 in the Balkans nation, the Interfax-Military News Agency reported.
Russian Land Forces commander Col-Gen. Nikolai Kormiltsev told the Izvestia newspaper last month that the military plans to cut its peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and Kosovo by more than a third this year.
A Russian airborne brigade that is currently part of SFOR, the NATO-led Stabilization Force in Bosnia, will be transformed into a Russian peacekeeping contingent of 270 officers and motorized infantry soldiers, Interfax said, citing the Land Forces command. The number of checkpoints and the area of Russian responsibility also will be reduced, the agency said.
Officials have denied allegations that the reduction of forces in the Balkans is a prelude to the complete withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Kosovo and Bosnia. //AP

MOSCOW - Alexander Popov, defying the years, has returned to his native Russia for one more challenge as he takes on seasoned title-holder Mark Foster in the shortest freestyle sprint at the world short-course swimming championships starting on Wednesday.
Popov joins an array of fellow world record-holders, including distance freestyle master Grant Hackett and versatile Ukrainian Yana Klochkova, at a five-day meeting at the indoor Olympiisky Sports Complex.
Popov, who turned 30 last November, secured a unique second Olympic golden double at the 1996 Atlanta Games and less than a month later sustained serious knife wounds when he was stabbed in the abdomen by a melon-seller in a Moscow street.
Invincible for most of the 1990s, he lost his Olympic 50 and 100 metres freestyle titles at the 2000 Sydney Games and pulled out of last July's world long-course championships because of illness.
Now back in Moscow with coach Gennady Touretski, the man who persuaded the swimmer to join him in Canberra in early 1993, he plans to compete only in the 50 freestyle and relays but should still relish another moment in the limelight in the city where he set his last world record.
The Russian, who broke the 50 freestyle long-course record here in June 2000, faces a riveting clash with veteran defending champion Foster, winner of the 50 freestyle in three of the five previous editions of these championships.
RECORD INCENTIVE
The Briton, at 31 even older than Popov, excels in the 25-metre pool and has declared his intention of beating his own world marks in both the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly, events in which he sped to gold at the 2000 championships in Athens.
"I really feel in fantastic shape and I'm going to Moscow expecting to break world records in the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly while also winning both events," Foster said last week.
"I've set my sights high and have put a bit of pressure on myself but time's getting short. I've set myself realistic targets."
This could prove a spur to Popov. "Initially we didn't plan any records but Alexander doesn't like to lose, so it's quite possible than in order to win he would have to set a world record," Touretski told Russian journalists at the weekend.
Hackett leads the Australian challenge in the absence of triple world record-holder Ian Thorpe, winner of an unprecedented six gold medals at last year's Fukuoka long-course world championships but concentrating this year on the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, and Pan-Pacific championships in Yokohama, Japan.
Hackett had to settle for silver behind the prodigious Thorpe in the 400 and 800 freestyle in Fukuoka but emphatically confirmed his place as undisputed king of the 1500 metres there by obliterating the long-course world record of fellow Australian Kieren Perkins, whom he had deposed as Olympic champion in Sydney the previous year. He then lowered his own short-course world mark just nine days later in Perth.
Hackett has won every major 1500 he has contested since he claimed the world short-course crown for the first time at the age of 16 in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1997 and feels he can still improve.
Nineteen-year-old Klochkova, double individual medley gold medallist at the 2000 Olympics, will be out to prove herself number one after suffering two rare defeats in the past year, losing the 200 medley to American Maggie Bowen at the world long-course championships and the 400 medley to Germany's Nicole Hetzer at the European short-course championships in Antwerp last December. //Reuters

MOSCOW - Lokomotiv Moscow goalkeeper Sergei Ovchinnikov has hit back at Russia coach Oleg Romantsev after being accused of refusing to play for the national team.
"I know from reading newspapers that Oleg Romantsev said: 'Ovchinnikov doesn't want to play for the national team'," Ovchinnikov was quoted as saying in Tuesday's Sport-Express newspaper.
"Quite frankly, his words were news to me."
Asked last Friday if he planned to recall Ovchinnikov to the national team, Romantsev told local media that he saw no role for the former Russian international in his squad.
"No, it's out of the question," said Romantsev, who also coaches Spartak Moscow, the Russian champions and Lokomotiv's rivals.
"It's an honour to play for the national team for any player, but apparently not for Ovchinnikov. So far he only gives interviews, telling everyone what a great goalkeeper he is."
But 31-year-old Ovchinnikov, who last played for Russia almost three years ago, sees things differently.
"In any of my interviews, I have never said that I would refuse to play for the national team," he said, while suggesting that Romantsev has ignored him for personal reasons.
"Could there be any other reason?" Ovchinnikov asked.
"So what if sometimes I say something about (Romantsev's club) Spartak. It's just a rivalry between the two clubs which is good for the game because it adds interest to the Russian championship.
"I know a lot of Spartak players like Yegor Titov, Vladimir Beschastnykh. We all have a normal relationship."
ANGRY SYOMIN
Romantsev's remarks also upset Lokomotiv coach Yuri Syomin.
"Usually, I don't like to comment on the national team coach, but now I must say something," Syomin told local media at the weekend.
"Oleg Romantsev alleges that Ovchinnikov refuses to play for the Russian national team. This is simply not true.
"I know for a fact that Ovchinnikov specifically returned to Russia this season to have a chance to play in the World Cup."
Ovchinnikov, who played for Lokomotiv from 1991 to 1997 before being sold to Portugal's Benfica, rejoined his old club on loan from Porto in January.
Ovchinnikov says he has not given up hope of playing in the World Cup finals but would not ask Romantsev himself.
"If a coach wants to see a certain player in his team, he would send him an official invitation...this is an accepted practice worldwide, not the other way around," the keeper said.
"But nevertheless, I'm prepared to wait until the very end."
The World Cup finals, in South Korea and Japan, begin on May 31, with Russia drawn alongside Japan, Belgium and Tunisia in group H.
It is not the first time Romantsev has come under fire for his national team selection.
Last month, Russian international Rolan Gusev claimed he was dropped from the national team because he chose to move to CSKA Moscow from city neighbours Dynamo instead of joining Spartak.
"Ever since I decided against joining Spartak, I didn't rule out such an action," the CSKA winger said. //Reuters

TBILISI - Georgia agreed Tuesday to withdraw its units from the Kodori Gorge in northwestern Georgia and allow Russian peacekeepers and U.N. observers to resume joint patrols in the tense region next week.
Georgia's Minister-at-large Malkhaz Kakabadze signed a protocol agreeing to the withdrawal of Georgian military divisions from the gorge by April 10. The U.N. and Russian patrols are expected to start on the same day.
The protocol was agreed under the advice of Dieter Boden, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's envoy in Abkhazia.
"This step is good," Kakabadze said. "We have demonstrated that we are ready for peace discussions."
The gorge has become a flashpoint in Georgia's conflict with the separatist region of Abkhazia. Half of the gorge is controlled by separatists and half by the Georgian government.
The province, in Georgia's far northwest, has had de facto independence since 1993, when two years of fighting with Georgian troops ended. The separatists want full independence, and U.N.-sponsored peace talks have stalled.
Tensions occasionally burst into violence, and Russian troops patrol the dividing line between separatist and Georgian-controlled territory to try to keep the peace. Although the Georgian government accuses them of siding with separatists, it extended the Russians' mandate this year, fearing a new round of violence in case of their withdrawal.
U.N. and Russian troops patrolled the Kodori Gorge together between 1994 and 1999, when violence put an end to the patrols, Boden said. They were restarted on a temporary basis in February. //AP

KIEV - The reformist party that dominated Ukraine's parliamentary elections said Tuesday its unofficial vote count revealed a weaker showing for pro-presidential candidates than the official results.
The party of pro-Western ex-Premier Viktor Yushchenko came in first ahead of the Communist Party and the pro-presidential For United Ukraine according to both official and unofficial results after Sunday's tense vote.
The election was seen as gauging President Leonid Kuchma's popularity after eight years ruling this France-sized nation of 49 million. The campaign of the pro-Kuchma party, created just a few months ago, was considered a rehearsal for him or a hand-picked successor in 2004 presidential elections.
International observers said Monday the campaign clearly favored federal and local authorities - and the pro-Kuchma party. Reports of voting violations were rampant, though the Central Election Commission chairman insisted the irregularities hadn't affected the overall outcome.
With 97 percent of the vote counted as of Tuesday morning, the election commission said Yushchenko's Our Ukraine led with 23 percent of the vote, followed by the Communists with 20 percent and For United Ukraine with 12 percent.
Yushchenko's party said Tuesday that according to its count, it had 25 percent and For United Ukraine had 11 percent.
Only half of the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada is chosen by proportional party lists. The other 225 are elected directly in districts where pro-Kuchma candidates dominated.
With both party lists and individual districts factored in, Yushchenko will likely have 110 seats, and the pro-presidential party will have 105, according to Tuesday's results. The Communists would have 66. That would leave no one with a clear majority, and mean much would depend on what alliances are formed.
The opposition Socialist Party of ex-parliament speaker Oleksandr Moroz was expected to take about 24 seats, slightly ahead of the fiercely anti-Kuchma party of ex-deputy premier Julia Tymoshenko and tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk's Social Democratic Party (United).
The close results highlighted deep divisions in Ukraine over its direction more than a decade after freedom from the Soviet Union, with continuing debate over whether to align itself with longtime ruler Russia or the West.
Yushchenko has good relations with the West, but insists that pleasing Ukrainians is his top priority and says Ukraine should rely less on foreign aid. His popularity stems from his success in invigorating the moribund economy as prime minister, and injecting optimism into a populace defeated by years of inflation and wage delays.
The U.S. government expressed concern about the uneven campaign.
"We're particularly disappointed that officials did not take steps to curb the widespread and open abuse of authority, including the use of government positions and facilities, to the unfair advantage of certain parties," U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said in Washington on Monday. //AP

MOSCOW - Russia's Foreign Ministry summoned a senior U.S. diplomat on Tuesday, saying U.S.-funded Radio Liberty's plans to broadcast to separatist Chechnya amounted to propaganda and endangered improving relations.
Radio Liberty, whose anti-communist programmes Moscow repeatedly jammed during Soviet days, said it would broadcast from Wednesday in local languages to the region where Russia has fought Chechen separatists since 1999.
A Foreign Ministry statement said the U.S. embassy counsellor had been handed a note expressing concern over the broadcasts.
"The Russian side stressed that launching specific propaganda broadcasts in the region, including Chechnya...could seriously complicate efforts by (Russian) authorities to stabilise the situation in the area," the statement said.
"This move is incompatible with the common fight against terrorism and the spirit of relations of partnership being formed between Russia and the United States."
The U.S. embassy had no immediate comment.
Chechnya has been a constant thorn in relations between the two countries. But since the September 11 attacks on the United States, Washington has toned down its criticism of human rights abuses in the rebellious province and in turn Moscow has thrown its support behind the U.S. war on terrorism.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to host a summit with U.S. President George W. Bush next month.
Radio Liberty said on Tuesday it would proceed with broadcasts to Russia's North Caucasus region, including Chechnya.
The hour-long broadcasts were initially scheduled to begin in late February, but were put back under pressure from the Bush administration which feared they would upset Moscow.
"The State Department approached our board and asked if we would wait, which we did," Radio Liberty spokeswoman Sonia Winter said. "But there was never any question of not proceeding with the broadcast."
Speaking from Radio Liberty's offices in Prague, Winter said the programme, which will be aired twice a day, would include news and features in the region's main languages, Chechen, Avar and Cherkassian.
"This is not a Chechen broadcast -- Chechen is only one of three local languages," Winter said, insisting that the station would not take sides.
But a top official in the pro-Moscow Chechen administration said rebels could use the broadcast to spread propaganda.
"The Chechen-language broadcasts are...likely to fuel extremism not only in Russia but elsewhere, given the ties between Chechen terrorists and international terrorist groups," Alexei Volin told Interfax news agency. //Reuters

BEIJING - Russia has lifted a 2 1/2-week ban on imports of pork, beef and poultry from China, the Chinese government said Tuesday.
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation said Russia had temporarily halted imports of meat products from China from March 15. The ban was lifted Monday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
When it instituted the ban, Russia said China had failed to allow Russian officials to adequately inspect the meat and supervise deliveries.
Russia's Agriculture Ministry had complained that it was impossible to check the meat's quality because Russian officials were not allowed to visit meat factories in China. The ministry also said the meat is moved in containers that cannot be inspected because once opened, they cannot be shut again.
Xinhua did not say whether those issues were resolved. //AP