DUSHANBE, January 9, 2014, Asia-Plus – The family of a contract soldier of the Russian military base in Tajikistan Maxim Usov, last seen in Dushanbe on August 19, 2013, has reported him missing.
Maxim Usov was reportedly in civvies and had the passport for foreign travels, mobile phone and notebook with him.
This information was spread through social networks by certain Yuri Usov, who introduced himself as the father of Maxim.
Meanwhile, the Russian military base’s headquarters in Dushanbe have not confirmed this information.
We will recall that Tajikistan has ratified an agreement allowing some 7,000 Russian troops to stay in Tajikistan until 2042. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, signed the agreement in Dushanbe in October 2012. The accord prolongs a deal signed in 1993, which was due to expire in 2014.
The base was officially opened 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 stationed at three military facilities collectively known as the 201st military base – in Dushanbe, Qurgon Teppa, some 100 kilometers from Dushanbe, and Kulob, about 200 kilometers southwest of Dushanbe.
Russia”s government has been highlighting the need for the base to remain in Tajikistan as foreign forces in Afghanistan start their drawdown next year.
