MOSCOW, January 22 (AVN) - The General Staff main operations department on Monday ordered the Moscow military district headquarters to make calculations concerning planned withdrawal of its troops and equipment from the North Caucasus, a competent source in the Defence Ministry told the Military News Agency.
The headquarters is given seven days to collect data on withdrawal of the district's 15th motorised rifle regiment, 245th motorised rifle regiment and 99th self-propelled artillery regiment from Chechnya, the source said.
The three regiments have been operating in Chechnya since October 1999. They were to have been relocated to their permanent stationing areas yet in October 2000, but the General Staff extended their term of service in the breakaway region at the request of the unified federal command.
The regiments are believed to be the most combat-ready in the federal group. The motorised rifle formations have thoroughly studied the theatre of operations and gained considerable experience in raids on mountainous terrain. Their delay in Chechnya was due to the increase in federal search activities during the winter campaign.
The 15th regiment is organic to the 2nd Taman motorised rifle division, stationed at the railway station of Alabino in the Moscow region. It is operating in eastern Chechnya with the mission to control foothills of the Nozhai-Yurt district.
The 245th and 99th regiments form part of the 3rd permanent-readiness motorised rifle division, permanently stationed in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Their zone of responsibility comprises the southern Urus-Martan district and the central Achkhoi-Martan district.