MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops have met all the objectives of their aid mission in Republika Srpska (part of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and are returning home, the Russian Defense Ministry informed on Thursday.

"Russian troops have meet all their objectives. The president (of Republika Srpska - TASS) Zeljka Cvijanovic announced it during the award ceremony for Russian specialists," the ministry said.

During their mission, Russian military officers have disinfected 28 objects in 11 cities in Republika Srpska.

The authorities of Republika Srpska asked Russia for assistance in fighting the COVID-19 epidemic. On April 9, Russian Military transport aviation conducted three flights to Banja Luka, delivering medical equipment, ventilators, drugs, 24 servicemen (including medics and decontamination specialists), as well as five military and specialized vehicles.

Earlier, Russia sent virologists and other military specialists and vehicles to Italy and Serbia. In particular, in Italy, Russian specialists assist with decontamination of the nursing homes. In Serbia, Russian medical brigades work in a number of cities, including the capital city of Belgrade while decontamination specialists have cleared hundreds of thousands of square meters in the country’s most important medical centers.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 2,600,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 184,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 723,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.