| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus |
| Army group in Chechnya may be reduced |
| 2002-05-17 |
| Special operations carried out by the Federal Security Service and the Interior Ministry will increase in importance while the load carried by the Defense Ministry's units will decrease, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Friday. He stated, ''If the situation in Chechnya normalizes, which I do not rule out, the number of Defense Ministry servicemen there will be reduced somewhat. But the 42nd Motorized Division will stay there for good.'' This would imply that they're turning the Chechen insurgency from a military to a police problem, though the MVD is nearly as heavy on armor and heavy weaponry as the army. 42nd Motorized Rifle Division is garrisoned in Grozny. The first group of people’s militia was formed in Chechnya on Wednesday. The event took place in Alleroi – the native village of the rebel leader Maskhadov. The initiative has been coordinated with Chief of General Staff Anatoly Kvashnin and also with the head of the Chechen administration Akhmad Kadyrov. The unit was made up of 25 volunteers who have been picked ''very thoroughly.'' The troops will receive uniforms, weapons and machinery. Apart from defending the village from separatist forces, the militia will take part in the joint operations of the Federal Forces in Chechnya. Putting it in Alleroi is an intentional thumb in Maskhadov's eye, but not particularly significant otherwise. The danger — and part of the utility — is that they present a tempting target for the Bad Guys. They're usually not very big and not very well-armed (no heavy weapons, for instance). |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |