MOSCOW. Feb 18 (Interfax-AVN) - The Land Forces personnel deployed in Chechnya will be reduced by about 2,000 men in the near future, Colonel General Nikolai Kormiltsev, Land Forces commander and deputy defense minister, told a news conference in Moscow Tuesday.
"In the near future, we will begin to withdraw extra unnecessary forces form Chechnya. Soon the Land Forces personnel deployed in Chechnya will be reduced by about 2,000 men," the general said.
He said that the relevant decision is being taken by Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. The withdrawal, according to Kormiltsev, may begin as soon as early March.
He also said that that the 42nd motorized rifle division would be permanently headquartered in Chechnya, and so will partially be military commandant's offices and battalion task forces, mainly in mountainous so-called troubled districts of the internal republic.
Kormiltsev appreciated the potentials of the sapper and road construction battalions involved in the construction and reconstruction of roads in Chechnya. They are in for above 600km of roads to be constructed and reconstructed this year.
About 80km of roads in Chechnya were reconstructed In January.