RUSSIA RESTARTS WITHDRAWAL OF TROOPS FROM GEORGIA
Translated by Pavel Pushkin
Source: Vremya Novostey, April 13, 2007, p. 5
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
April 16, 2007 Monday
Today, Russia will continue the withdrawal of its bases from Georgia.
An automotive column with hardware and property of the 62nd Akhalkalaki
military base will go to Armenia where the 102nd Russian base is
located in Gyumri. Andrei Popov, Commander of the Group of Russian
Forces in Transcaucasia, reports that the base in Akhalkalaki will be
closed by July 1. Five automotive columns will be sent to Armenia by
then. Two trains with military hardware will be sent from Akhalkalaki
to Russia. Withdrawal of the 12th base in Batumi to be closed in
2008 will be restarted on May 15. Ten trains will go from Batumi to
Russia and four trains will go to Armenia. Popov says: "Russia fully
observes its obligations regarding the withdrawal of the bases." In
autumn of 2006, the overall strength of the Group of Russian Forces
in Transcaucasia exceeded 2,000 servicemen. The Russian military
presence in Georgia had to end with the closing of the garrison in
Tbilisi in 2008. However, after four Russian servicemen were arrested
in Tbilisi according to suspicion of espionage in September of 2006,
Russia decided to quickly withdraw the servicemen from Tbilisi in
the interests of security. By December 25 of 2006, 387 servicemen
of the Group of Russian Forces in Transcaucasia left the Georgian
capital. Command of the Group of Russian Forces in Transcaucasia was
moved to Batumi.
