Ukrainian peacekeeper found dead in Kosovo

AP, May 28, 2005 4:13 AM

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-A Ukrainian solider serving with NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo has been found dead, the alliance force said.

The soldier''s body was found Friday in a storage room at Ukrainian Camp Breza in Strpce, a village some 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Pristina, the NATO force said in a statement. The identity of the soldier was withheld pending notification of family.

The statement said the incident was under investigation. No other details were disclosed.

Since July 2000, Ukraine has maintained some 300 troops in Kosovo as a part of a combined Ukrainian-Polish battalion serving in the force.

Kosovo, which officially remains part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia, has been controlled by the United Nations and NATO-led peacekeepers since the end of the 1999 war.

About 17,000 NATO-led peacekeepers are deployed in Kosovo.