MOSCOW, January 23, (AVN) - The commander of the unified federal group in the North Caucasus, Lieutenant-General Valery Baranov, said on Tuesday he would head the group until the final troops withdrawal from Chechnya.
"Despite the fact that the Chechnya campaign currently lays the main stress on special search and neutralisation operations carried out by the Federal Security Service and the General Staff main intelligence department, plans of the group headquarters concerning liquidation of small extremist groups, search and elimination of cache with arms and ammunition remain in force," Baranov told the Military News Agency.
Partial withdrawal of the federal group's units and formation will start in February according to a directive of the chief-of-staff which has not been send to the troops yet, he stressed.
Baranov said he would fly to the North Caucasus later in the day and get down to his duties in Khankala on Wednesday.