PSKOV. Nov 11 (Interfax-AVN) - Airborne units within the Combined Federal Force in the North Caucasus will be withdrawn from Chechnya before the end of the year, Lieutenant General Nikolai Staskov, Airborne Force chief of staff, said on Thursday.
"I am speaking about the withdrawal of three battalion-size task forces of the Airborne Force, which have been accomplishing combat and special missions as part of the Defense Ministry's mountain troops in the south of the republic," Staskov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The deadline for paratroopers' withdrawal is set for December 30, he stressed.
"If no extraordinary events happen in the North Caucasus, our contracted paratroopers of the 76th division, who have been accomplishing missions in Chechnya's mountainous districts for nearly a year, will meet New Year with their families," Staskov said.
He stressed that "paratroopers' presence among the personnel of the federal force in Chechnya is not planned" for 2005.
According to data available to Interfax-AVN, the Airborne Force currently maintains three battalion-size task forces and a combined reconnaissance detachment in Chechnya. The total number of paratroopers in the republic amounts to 2,500.