YEKATERINBURG. Oct 2 (Interfax-AVN) - The infiltration of a Chechen guerilla unit led by prominent warlord Ruslan Gelayev from Georgia's Pankisi Gorge to Russia has vividly demonstrated substantiation of Russia's claims to the Georgian leadership, Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky has said.
"The Georgian leaders have long misled international public opinion, claiming that there are no bandit formations on Georgian territory, thus conniving at their activity," Yastrzhembsky said at a joint press conference with presidential envoy to the Urals federal district Pyotr Latyshev in Yekaterinburg on Wednesday.
He noted that the Russian leadership has repeatedly insisted on the need to maintain "normal and sincere neighborly relations with Georgia."
"The Russian leadership at the same time cannot ignore the unhealthy situation in the Pankisi Gorge, where terrorist formations have built nests with the connivance of Georgian authorities," he noted.
Yastrzhembsky said he regards the demolition of a terrorist infrastructure in Chechnya as one of the principal results of the antiterrorist operation that federal forces are carrying out in the North Caucasus.
"An infrastructure has been demolished, which supported the activity of this terrorist enclave and created the opportunity for expansion, namely a guerilla training center, the most notorious so- called Khattab's camp, and a center for manufacturing arms on Chechen territory. The main bandit formations and dozens of prominent field commanders have been wiped out," Yastrzhembsky said.
The total number of guerillas killed is estimated at 10,000 to 13,000, the presidential aide said.