MOSCOW. May 6 (Interfax-AVN) - A joint patrol of Russian servicemen from the Collective Peacekeeping Forces in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone and UN military observers has found no Georgian military formations in the upper part of the Kodori gorge, Lieutenant General Valery Yevnevich, Russian Land Forces deputy commander in charge of peacekeeping troops, said on Monday.
The joint patrol of Russian peacekeepers led by Colonel Yuri Alexeyev and UN military observers examined the gorge from May 3 to 5, Yevnevich told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"The joint patrol headed for the territory the day after it received an official document from Georgia guaranteeing security of our peacekeepers and the UN mission's military observers," Yevnevich stressed.
The deputy commander added that "the joint patrol registered no severe violations on behalf of the Georgian party concerning the withdrawal of its military units from the upper part of the Kodori gorge."
Meanwhile, Alexeyev has told Interfax that Georgia, which controls the upper part of the Kodori Gorge, has three border guard units with a total strength of 120 men in the area. Their headquarters is in the village of Chkhalta.
There are also volunteer units totaling 300 men in local villages. A cache of firearms, three mortars and more than 600 mines, was found in a school in Chkhalta. The Georgian party says it had no time to withdraw the cache and promises to do so as soon as roads open
The patrol noticed an anti-aircraft system between Azhara and Saken.
The Russian peacekeepers and UN military observers did not see U.S. experts or Chechen rebels in the upper part of the Kodori gorge, Alexeyev said.