DUSHANBE, November 19, 2015, Asia-Plus – A group of residents of the city of Kulob working as civilian support staff at the Russian military base’s unit in their city yesterday applied to Asia-Plus noting that that they have obtained an official order from Russian military command about withdrawal of Russian troops from their city.
The notification reads, “We inform you that in connection with the Central Military District directive, this military unit is being relocated as of October 15, 2015. The relocation will be completed within two months since you received this notification.”
This document has stirred up practically the whole population of Kulob because the Russian military deployed in the city has accumulated close ties with local population.
Kulob is one of the three cities in Tajikistan where the Russian 201st military base is deployed — the others are Dushanbe and Qurghon Teppa.
The Russian military base is a valuable economic input and according to
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service
, nearly 200 local civilians work for the base in Kulob, Qurghon Teppa, and Dushanbe.
However, the presence of the base has been at the root of several scandals in recent years.
RFE/RL’s Tajik Service
reported on July 29 that residents of Kulob said that a group of drunken Russian soldiers in their underwear brawled in the street overnight with local Tajik men who had confronted them about their raucous behavior. Witnesses say several of the Tajik men were injured in the street fight.
Two Russian soldiers stationed in Dushanbe were convicted of killing a Tajik taxi driver and sentenced by Russian military court to lengthy prison terms in August this year. An autopsy revealed that Teshaboyev, a father of three, was severely beaten before his throat was slashed.
Ivan Shcherbakov, a senior lieutenant with the Russian military base in Tajikistan, was detained on November 9 on suspicion of killing the 22-year-old Tajik woman Shoira Jabborova, who was found dead in officers’ dormitory on the base in Dushanbe on November 5. During the preliminary investigation, Shcherbakov said that he had no memory of the events of which he stands accused as he was heavily intoxicated at the time.
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 stationed at three military facilities collectively known as the 201st military base.
We will recall that Russian officials have announced plans to increase the number of troops stationed in Tajikistan to 9,000 over the next five years and provide more military equipment through 2020.
