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Officials in Moscow say Russian peacekeepers in Kosovo will hit back in future after they came under fire from Kosovar Albanians.
A foreign ministry statement claims ethnic Albanians fired on a group of Russian peackeepers on Wednesday near the town of Gnjilane as the soldiers were escorting Serb priests to a hospital.
No one was hurt in the attack.
"The Russian military contingent will react in an adequate manner to armed provocations," the statement said.
Since Sunday, ethnic Albanians have blockaded all roads into the town of Orahovac to stop 750 Russian peacekeepers due to deploy there.
The ethnic Albanians fear the Russians will protect local Serbs sought as war criminals in the Kosovo conflict.
They say that Russian mercenaries, whose country has traditional ties with Serbia, collaborated with Serb paramilitaries in the war.
But the Russian foreign ministry statement said, "the Russian military do not distinguish between the citizens of Kosovo according to their nationality and their religion".
"Russian field hospitals offer free medical help to all those who need it, including hundreds of Albanians," it added.