British NATO troops crossed the Yugoslav border on Saturday
MILITARY PLAN: RELATED VIDEO CNN's Jim Clancy reports by phone on Russian troops' arrival in Kosovo Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Go into the mountains of Kosovo with CNN's Jim Clancy, where some ethnic Albanians say they have been staying since Serbs drove them from their Kosovo homes (June 11) Real 28K 80K 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: White House 'pleased' Russia ordering troops out of Kosovo British transport plane crash-lands at Albanian outpost Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo start receiving aid Russia says relations with NATO 'frozen' Winners and losers: Analysis of the Kosovo conflict  THE DELUGE OF REFUGEES: Number, whereabouts of Kosovo refugees  MESSAGE BOARD: Crisis in Kosovo  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Focus on Kosovo

June 12, 1999
Web posted at: 6:14 a.m. EDT (1014 GMT)

In this story: NATO stunned by Russian troop movement Who ordered the Russians in? British transport planes crashes RELATED STORIES, SITES

BLACE, Macedonia (CNN) -- NATO peacekeepers rolled into Kosovo Saturday, the first alliance forces to set foot in the embattled province since a bombing campaign launched in March to halt Yugoslavia's ethnic cleansing of Kosovar Albanians.

Chinook and Puma helicopters carrying members of Britain's elite Gurka rifle regiment and paratroopers flew across the border as Operation Joint Guardian, one of the biggest military undertakings in Europe since World War II, got under way.

Advance units entered Kosovo at dawn aboard helicopters on a mission to clear mines from a main road to allow troops and clear the way for the eventual return of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees.

A massive convoy of green British and French military vehicles followed along with columns of infantry.

Hours earlier, a small force of Russians upstaged NATO when they rolled into the capital of Pristina unannounced and in direct conflict with their own government's assurances to Washington that no such move was planned.

President Boris Yeltsin arrived at the Kremlin for crisis meetings with his aides well after the NATO advance got under way. Yeltsin later said Russia is prepared to participate in all operations provided for by the U.N. Security Council, the Interfax news agency said.

British helicopters, escorted by American tank-killing Apaches, left Macedonia from near Blace around 5 a.m. local time (11 p.m. EDT) and carried hundreds of Britain's elite Gurkha rifle regiment and paratroopers into Kosovo.

They dropped off troops and cargo on the high ground along the steep Kacanik gorge near the main road between Macedonia and the Kosovar capital Pristina to begin clearing the booby-trapped highway of land mines. Officials are particularly concerned about two bridges and two tunnels along the route, including one tunnel known to be loaded with explosives.

The choppers then returned for more troops and supplies.

A massive convoy of British and French military vehicles rolled into Kosovo around the same time, transporting the first NATO footsoldiers to step into into the province since the 19-member military alliance began a bomb campaign that was halted this week after 79 days.

CNN's Nic Robertson, who entered Kosovo with the NATO vanguard from Macedonia, said light mortar fire could be heard in the distance near the NATO convoy and that the troops had taken a defensive position.

He reported the mortar fire shortly after the convoy ground to a halt after two sets of explosives were found at the first tunnel about four miles (7 km) inside Kosovo.

Minutes before, the peacekeepers encountered three Yugoslav troops who were in a vehicle driving toward them, Robertson said. The peacekeepers ordered them to stop and then disarmed the three, before sending them on their way.

The NATO convoy then passed through a number of villages and did not see a single civilian, Robertson said.

CNN's Tom Mintier, also in Kosovo, said signs of human tragedy were evident, following the massive exodus of Kosovo refugees over the past few months: Hundreds of abandoned cars, pieces of clothing and shoes strewn about.

NATO's entry followed a night of considerable surprise and embarrassment for NATO after Russian troops entered Kosovo ahead of NATO peacekeepers -- a move that stunned the alliance, the White House, Pentagon and even high-level Moscow officials.

At dawn on Saturday, the Russian troops were still in Kosovo, despite reports that they had been ordered out. It was also reported that Russian forces were present at the Pristina Airport, where NATO forces hoped to set up a staging area.

Smiling and waving, Russian soldiers in camouflage fatigues had entered Pristina hours before NATO troops moved in. Russian soldiers perched atop their military vehicles as residents lined the streets cheering, chanting and tossing flowers onto the convoy of trucks and armored personnel carriers, which were marked with the bold letters "KFOR," the symbol for the international peacekeeping force.

At one point, a group of residents climbed onto a vehicle and unfurled a Yugoslav flag, joyfully waving its blue, white and red stripes.

"The situation is sheer madness," CNN's Jim Clancy reported from the Kosovo capital. "This has awakened the entire city."

The residents had begun gathering in the streets hours before the column of about 200 Russian troops reached Pristina -- as if they knew the soldiers were on the way.

NATO tanks and bulldozer enter Kosovo, as helicopters carry vehicles in

Shortly after the troops arrived, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, surprised at the news, called it an "unfortunate mistake" and said the troops had been ordered to leave.

"The reasons for this are being determined. They have been ordered to leave Kosovo immediately and to await further orders," said Ivanov, who just hours earlier assured U.S. officials that Russian troops would wait to enter until NATO peacekeepers arrived in Kosovo.

NATO had no official comment, but a spokesman in Macedonia said: "Of course, it was a surprise."

In Washington, White House officials told CNN the administration is "pleased" with Ivanov's statement but wants more answers as to how it happened.

However, some sources said they did not believe the Russian entry was a mistake -- as one source put it, soldiers don't march without orders.

A senior Pentagon source said the Russian Constitution states that Russia's president or prime minister must act to officially deploy troops outside of Russia.

Russia's Interfax news agency, quoting an unnamed military source, said the Russian entry into Kosovo had been sanctioned by the Kremlin -- but there was no independent confirmation of that report.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott was meeting in Moscow with officials there for further explanations.

State Department spokesman James Rubin, on a plane headed back to Washington, said "we will take (Ivanov's) statement at face value" and "will wait to see" if the troops withdraw.

Russia has said it does not want its troops placed under NATO command in Kosovo. Instead, it wants a Russian sector of the province to oversee.

Many Russians have expressed strong opposition to the Kosovo peace plan, charging that Russia yielded to NATO's demands during peace talks and failed to defend Yugoslavia, its ally.

The NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force is expected to eventually number at least 45,000 on the ground in Kosovo, with another 10,000 backup troops across the borders in Macedonia and Albania. The Russian contingent could include as many as 800 troops ultimately.

But it was not immediately clear if the Russians early entry into Kosovo would affect those plans.

The Pentagon source called the entry of the Russian troops "militarily insignificant" but cautioned the unexpected move could pose political problems.

In another development, a British C-130 military transport plane carrying 12 people crash-landed late Friday in northern Albania and burst into flames after the ammunition it was carrying ignited, seriously injuring one passenger.

The C-130 Hercules touched down on a dirt airstrip near the northern Albanian town of Kukes and taxied down the runway when one of its engines caught fire, a NATO spokesman told CNN.

A massive orange fireball lit up the nighttime sky and repeated explosions jolted the area. A nearby Kosovar Albanian refugee camp was evacuated shortly after the crash.

NATO said it had launched an investigation.

Correspondents Nic Robertson, Tom Mintier, Matthew Chance, Jill Dougherty and Chris Burns contributed to this report.

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