MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. Russian military specialists will be deployed to the Republic of the Congo to see to the maintenance of the equipment Moscow provided to the country earlier, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"These specialists will go there to help maintain military equipment provided to the Republic of the Congo earlier," he said. According to Peskov, with appropriate maintenance, it is possible to continue using many pieces of the equipment. "They will be sent there to maintain that equipment," he added.

Russia and the Republic of the Congo earlier signed a contract to deploy Russian military specialists to the African country. The ceremony of exchanging the signed documents took place at the Kremlin on Thursday in the presence of Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin told reporters that Russian specialists would go to Africa to train their Congolese colleagues in the use, maintenance and repair of military hardware.