MOSCOW, May 21 (AVN) - The 10th separate paratrooper regiment of the Russian peacekeeping forces that forms the backbone of the 50th military base in Gudauta, Georgia's breakaway Abkhazian autonomous republic, will be withdrawn to Russia by July 1 as scheduled, Airborne Commander Georgy Shpak said on Monday.
The Airborne Staff has drafted a withdrawal plan for the regiment and other formations and will start implementing it in the second half of June, Shpak told the Military News Agency before leaving for Abkhazia.
Shpak also said that a Russian group comprising several airborne formations would stay at the base after its disbandment. An agreement on the matter has been reached by Russia and Georgia, he added. A part of the formations will guard the base's installations and the military airfield while the rest will be getting ready for operations within the Collective Peacekeeping Forces in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone.
"Among the most important aims of my visit to Abkhazia is to hold consultations with the republic's leadership in order to prevent incidents during the units' withdrawal to the Russian territory," Shpak stressed.