COMMANDER CONFIRMS ALL RUSSIAN TROOPS TO LEAVE TBILISI BY YEAR END
NTV Mir, Moscow,
2 Nov 2006
[Presenter] By the end of the year the Russian military will leave
the capital of Georgia. This was announced today in Rostov-na-Donu by
the commander the troops of the North Caucasian Military District,
Gen Aleksandr Baranov. Six military settlements of the Tbilisi
garrison will be handed over to the Georgian Defence Ministry. All
Russian hardware and property will be sent by train to Russia and
Armenia. Baranov noted that it is not difficult to complete this task
as long as the Georgian authorities do not interfere.
[Baranov] This withdrawal has been planned as an additional one, based
on what was voiced, you recall, by the president, who is the supreme
commander, and by the defence minister, about the impossibility of
continuing service in the conditions when it is not service but hard
labour in Tbilisi garrison. Therefore, the troops will be withdrawn
from there and, as I said, there will not be a single [Russian]
serviceman in Tbilisi by the end of the year.