MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Fifty officers and enlisted men of the Russian Airborne Troops have got the title of Hero of Russia and another 7,000 paratroopers have got orders and medals since the beginning of the second Chechnya campaign, Airborne Commander Georgy Shpak said on Friday.
Shpak spoke in Moscow when he was giving the medal For Courage to retired paratrooper Nikolai Bushev. The former paratrooper born in the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region got the medal for courage and heroism that he had displayed in Chechnya. Bushev's parents also attended the awarding ceremony.
According to Shpak, the airborne operations group comprising two regiment-size and one battalion-size task forces is still accomplishing tasks in southern Chechnya. "The situation in mountainous districts in the paratroopers' areas of responsibility remains tense, attacks on our strong-points and planting of mines on routes of materiel and food transportation have not ceased," Shpak stressed.
"Last year alone, our sappers and paratroopers found and defused over 100 radio-controlled landmines s well as some 5,000 antipersonnel mines and other explosive devices planted by rebels in Chechnya," the airborne commander pointed out.
He stressed that at present Chechen rebels were only capable of executing single terrorist acts. "Bandits have been avoiding direct engagements with paratroopers for over a year," Shpak added.