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Russia Halves the Number of Military Personnel in Georgia
March 29, Russian Defense Ministry officials report that the number of Russian military units at the territory of Georgia has been halved since this year’s beginning. There are about 2 000 Russian soldiers left in this ex-USSR republic.
An unnamed official of Defense Ministry told ITAR-TASS that over 4 000 soldiers were stationed at the Russian military bases in Batumi and Akhalkalaki in 2003. At present “a little over 1000 people” remain at each base.
According to the official, structures and subdivisions, “with no direct connection to performance of missions” were withdrawn to Russia. There are “no plans” to further reduce the number of the Russian military in Georgia, since the present number is a “minimum necessary” number of soldiers and officers.
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Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
