Russia said it considered the ruling "absolutely faire" and would pay the court-ordered compensation of 3,000 euros (2,750 dollars) to the soldier, Anatoly Tikhonovich Burdov.

The court said in a statement that Moscow had violated articles in the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the right to a fair trial and protection of property by failing to adequately compensate the soldier.

It was the first time that the court has issued a ruling concerning Russia, more than six years after the country joined the Council of Europe, the continent's human rights watchdog.

The seven judges at the court's headquarters in the French city of Strasbourg ordered Russia to pay 3,000 euros (2,750 dollars) compensation to Burdov.

Russian Labour Minister Alexander Pochinok said, "the court's decision is absolutely fair" and that the compensation would be paid.

Burdov was called up by military authorities to take part in the emergency operations at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, from October 1986 until January 1987.

He became ill after being exposed to radioactive emissions, but had to wait until early 2001 to be partially compensated despite a series of court rulings in his favor.

The Russian authorities had blamed a lack of funds.

But the court ruled it was "not open to a state authority to cite lack of funds as an excuse for not honoring a judgement date."

It said Moscow's failure to adequately compensate Burdov constituted a violation of his "right to a fair trial" under Article Six of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The "execution of a judgement given by any court must be regarded as an integral part of the trial for the purposes of the fair trial requirement..," the court said.

"The applicant should not have been prevented from benefiting from the success of the litigation in question on the grounds of alleged financial difficulties," it said.

It also ruled that "the impossibility of the applicant to obtain the execution of these judgements, at least until March 5, 2001, constituted an interference with his right to peaceful enjoyment of his possessions," as set set out in Article One of the Convention on the protection of property.

In Moscow, Pochinok told Moscow Echo radio his ministry "will pay up, there's no doubt about it," adding that there had been "a delay in the payment because the budget did not provide funds to settling compensation to Chernobyl workers."

Sergei Kovalyov, a member of the Russian lower house of parliament also speaking on Moscow Echo radio, said the Strasbourg ruling "teaches us that the law is the same for everyone, including the Russian state."

"Russia has proclaimed its wish to be a law-based state, and must be prepared to lose law suits brought by its own citizens," he said.

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