Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitskiy, Commander of Russia’s Central Military District, has arrived in Tajikistan to inspect units of the Russian military base deployed in the country.
According to the Central Military District press service, he is inspecting combat readiness of the base personnel.
Zarudnitskiy will also inspect the Russian peacekeeping unit that has been redeployed to Tajikistan to take training at unfamiliar training grounds.
While in Dushanbe, Russian general will also hold talks with senior representatives of the Tajik Defense Ministry to discuss cooperation and the current situation on the Central Asian strategic direction.
The Central Military District is one of Russia’s Military Districts. The district was formed in president’s decree №1144 signed on September 20, 2010. The district includes the territories of the former Siberian Military District.
In June 2015, U.S. expert Leslie H. Gelb wrote that the role of the Central Military District is to “orchestrate Russian engagement in local conflicts within Central Asia, to manage Russia’s bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and to supply reinforcements from its two armies either to the east or the west in the event of war” and that their purpose is to “forestall instability that might spill over into Russia and to remind everyone that Russia’s forces in the region are mightier than China’s.”
The Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan is Russia's largest non-naval military facility outside the country. It was officially opened in Tajikistan in 2004 under a previous agreement, which was signed in 1993, and hosts Russia’s largest military contingent deployed abroad.
A total of some 7,000 Russian troops are now stationed at two military facilities collectively known as the 201st military base – in Dushanbe and Qurghon Teppa, some 100 kilometers from Dushanbe.
