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MILITARY PLAN: RELATED VIDEO CNN's Mike Boettcher reports on NATO peacekeeping efforts Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Charlayne Hunter-Gault reports on Russian peacekeepers' arrival in Pristina Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Mike Boettcher reports on ethnic Albanians' search for loved ones. Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Jim Clancy reports on a shattered Yugoslav economy (June 25) Windows Media 28K 80K To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Kosovo, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery.        Windows Media Real        28 K 80 K  ALSO: Land mines pose serious threat to returning Kosovars Clinton grilled on Kosovo, domestic policy  MESSAGE BOARD: Rebuilding Kosovo  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Focus on Kosovo

In this story: Second war crimes suspect arrested Marines guard firefighters battling arsons Yugoslav soldiers demand unpaid wages U.N. chief calls conference on Kosovo RELATED STORIES, SITES

June 26, 1999
Web posted at: 10:36 p.m. EST (0336 GMT)

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- An advance force of Russian peacekeepers flew into Kosovo on Saturday to help reopen the provincial capital airport and join a partnership with NATO troops trying to curb ongoing ethnic clashes.

Meanwhile, as U.S. investigators found "staggering" evidence of atrocities in the recent past, there were more reports of looting and burning of Serb houses.

After a short standoff, the Russian troops allowed their NATO counterparts into the Pristina airport for the first time Saturday.

Russian and NATO leaders met to end the impasse and open the airfield to a NATO truck convoy carrying food and bomb- disposal equipment.

Officers with the NATO peacekeeping mission attributed the incident to Russian "muscle flexing."

The planeload of Russians from Moscow included technicians who will help rebuild the airfield, which was damaged by the NATO airstrikes.

The Russian commander, Gen. Viktor Zavarzin, pledged to cooperate with the NATO countries leading the KFOR peacekeeping mission.

Since about 200 Russian troops surprised NATO by taking control of the airport June 12, Russia and the alliance debated Russia's role within KFOR until reaching an agreement days ago.

Eventually, Russia will have about 3,600 troops in Kosovo. They will not be controlling their own sector, but will be working under their own military command in zones controlled by French, German and U.S. peacekeepers.

British Lt. Gen. Mike Jackson said Saturday that he had a "good relationship" with Zavarzin, a former Russian liaison officer to NATO.

The Russians may be instrumental in helping provide shelter for Serbs who remain in the battered province. And they will continue to control Pristina's airfield. They will be responsible for securing an "air bridge" so peacekeepers and international aid organizations can fly in and out of Kosovo.

"We have to fulfill this mission together, and I can tell you in all honesty that Russia is ready for this task," Zavarzin said.

British military officials would not release the man's identity or ethnic background, but said he was taken into custody Friday at his home in the town of Lipijan.

The arrest of the war crimes suspect was the second in a week by British KFOR forces. On Wednesday, Royal Military Police arrested a man tied to the murder of 46 people in Slovinje.

Military officials have informed the international tribunal investigating war crimes in Kosovo of the arrests.

In Djakovica, meanwhile, U.S. FBI agents sifting through the small town's ruins have found their mission wrenching in a way unlike any probe undertaken back in the United States.

"This whole city of 50 or 60 thousand has literally been burned out, and representations have been made to us that if you were to look into any one of these homes underneath the fallen roof tiles, you would find bodies," said Special Agent Paul Mallett. "In any one instance it's tragic, but when you put it all together it's staggering."

Among the things they have discovered in Djakovica were the skeletal remains of small children.

"We're here to determine the nature of the activities here, the atrocities. Our information is that at least 20 people were killed here," Mallett said.

The Djakovica site is one of six named in an indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia that has accused Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and other government officials of war crimes.

Fire has ruined many homes in the town. In once case, the collapsed roof of a burned home has preserved evidence of what took place within its walls several months ago.

The roof collapse had the effect of preserving the evidence, said Allyson Simons of the FBI crime lab.

"Things have been disturbed, but the fact the roof collapsed and covered the evidence means we can recover a lot of evidence," she said.

Marines guard firefighters battling arsons

Civil unrest continued in southern Kosovo, where KFOR troops face the uneasy challenge of protecting Serb civilians and defending themselves from suspected Serb gunmen.

In the town of Gnjilane, U.S. Marines Saturday stood guard over Serb firemen who battled blazes in Serb homes.

"We are trying to protect them because people try to take potshots at them," said Sgt. Andreas Starling.

The identity of the arsonist is unknown, but ethnic Albanians and Serbs have accused each other of torching Serb homes.

The Marines remained concerned for their own safety as well, having dodged sniper fire the night before. At least three gunmen shot at the local KFOR post. The Marines returned fire, killing one man whom they suspect is a Serb.

"It was either a coordinated attack or someone took a shot at us and everyone just jumped on the bandwagon," said Lt. Randall Johnston.

In the nearby smaller village of Zegra, however, fleeing Serbs sought protection from Marines two days ago, fearing reprisals from returning Kosovar Albanians.

U.S. Marines have arrested at least 15 ethnic Albanians in the village for looting and burning.

Outside Kosovo, hundreds of Yugoslav soldiers -- some armed and apparently drunk -- blocked roads in central Serbia for a third day on Friday. The soldiers demanded unpaid wages, and cursed the government.

Kraljevo residents seemed sympathetic to the soldiers and brought them supplies, including more beer. The town is run by opposition politicians and is covered with painted signs displaying a fist with the word "resistance" above it.

"I came back home after three months and I saw my child and wife don't have anything to eat," said a soldier from Kraljevo, who was called up to serve in Kosovo.

Part of an armored division blocked a bridge in the town, and reservists sat atop an armored personnel carrier and refused to let traffic pass. The soldiers refused appeals from senior officers to give up their protests.

Although the atmosphere in Kraljevo seemed good-natured, regular army units took up positions around the town, about 270 kilometers (170 miles) south of Belgrade.

The soldiers are asking for the U.S. equivalent of $550 to $730 in back pay. Other protests have taken place in towns across Yugoslavia.

"This is a protest to show we are angry that they haven't paid us for going to Kosovo," one man said, standing in a crowd of angry, uniformed soldiers.

The United Nations on Friday announced plans for a conference aimed at resolving problems linked to peace in Kosovo, including ways to improve law and order.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan invited several nations, including the world's leading industrialized nations as well as Russia, China, Finland, Greece, the Netherlands and Turkey, to the meeting.

"I think it will give the chance to the secretary-general to again appeal for what he needs in the way of people and money to advance the mission there," U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

Also invited are members of the European Union, whom the United Nations has put in charge of reconstruction in Kosovo; the 54-nation Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, responsible for rebuilding government operations; and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which has contributed much humanitarian aid to ethnic Albanian refugees.

The United Nations is in charge of the civilian administration of Kosovo, while NATO is in charge of ensuring security so hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees can return to their homes. About 50,000 peacekeepers are assigned to protect them.

"We ... have experienced some law-and-order problems, and some other growing pains of the mission can be aired at this meeting," Eckhard said.

Correspondents Christiane Amanpour, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Mike Boettcher, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.