DUSHANBE, October 20, 2011, Asia-Plus — The process of replacement of the strength of the Russian military base in Tajikistan is going on, Dmitry Matushkin, an assistant to the commander of the Russian military base in Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus today.
According to him, 150 new servicemen that have taken training course on various military specialties such as sniper, mechanic-driver, gun-layer, and grenade-launcher-operator arrived in Dushanbe yesterday night to replace servicemen that got their discharge. “In all, some 3,400 servicemen are planned to be replaced,” Matushkin said.
The assistant stressed that the military base’ strength would remain the same. There are reportedly some 7,000 Russian military personnel who are located in Dushanbe, Qurghon Teppa and Kulob.
We will recall that Tajik and Russian presidents dedicated the first permanent Russian military base in Tajikistan on October 17, 2004. Russian troops have been in Tajikistan for years, but the presidents have legally agreed on a new way to look at their presence. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Emomali Rahmon signed an agreement establishing permanent posts in Tajikistan for the troops of Russia”s 201st Motorized Rifle Division on October 16, 2004. The division was converted into the military base. The division had been stationed in the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the agreement formalized the legal status of the unit”s presence.
The 201st Gatchina Twice Red Banner Motor Rifle Division was originally raised twice in World War II as part of the Soviet Union”s Red Army. The division received the title “Gatchina” for its role in breaking the siege of Leningrad and received its first Order of the Red Banner during the great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. As part of the Central Asian Military District the division participated in the invasion of Afghanistan in December of 1979, when it entered Afghanistan with the 40th Army. It was stationed in Kunduz province. In 1985, the division received a second Order of the Red Banner.
