ROSTOV-ON-DON. Nov 12 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has announced plans to reduce the army in Chechnya.
"The withdrawal of tactical groups of the Airborne Force from Chechnya before the end of the year will mean that the Defense Ministry grouping deployed in the Chechen Republic will be reduced by approximately 1,000 servicemen," he told reporters in Rostov-on-Don on Friday.
"The tactical groups of the 76th airborne division and the Caspian marine brigade are currently stationed in the mountains of Chechnya. We plan to pull them out of Chechnya at the beginning of next year while units of the 42nd division will assume their duties," he said.
"The division has war-time staffing. It will be fully staffed by contract servicemen by the end of the year, and after that, its units and formations will assume the functions which units transferred from other parts of Russia are now performing," Ivanov said.
"Hence next year we will be left with only the 42nd division and special forces in Chechnya as far as the Defense Ministry is concerned," he said.
Commander of the North Caucasus military district Army General Alexander Baranov said: "Today the 42nd division is 91% staffed with contract servicemen." He said he was sure that his district would cope with the task of making it 100% staffed with contract servicemen by the end of the year.