"The departure of the last train carrying troops, vehicles and other property of the Russia peacekeeping contingent is scheduled for 6:00 pm Moscow time (1400 GMT) on Wednesday," peacekeeping official Sergei Serkov told Interfax news agency.

The train is due to arrive in Moscow nearly a week later, on July 30, he said, without providing details into the delay.

All aircraft deployed with the mission will return to Moscow on Thursday, he added.

"Thus the withdrawal of peacekeepers from the former Yugoslavia will be wrapped up," Serkov said.

"By August 1, all Russian peacekeepers will have returned from the Balkans to their homeland," he added.

Russia had deployed 320 soldiers to take part in the NATO-led Stabilisation Force in Bosnia (SFOR) and another 650 to the alliance's KFOR force in Kosovo.

Russian officials have said that high cost mostly prompted their decision to pull out the troops, with the Balkan deployment costing Moscow 26.9 million dollars (23.6 million euros) annually.

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