Alma-Ata. January 9th. INTERFAX - CSTO peacekeepers will remain in Kazakhstan until the situation is fully stabilized, said the commander of the Russian Airborne Troops, Colonel-General Andrey Serdyukov, who leads the contingent of CSTO peacekeepers in Kazakhstan.
"The fulfillment of tasks by the units of the collective peacekeeping forces will continue until the situation in the country is fully stabilized," Serdyukov said on Sunday.
According to him, the deployment of CSTO peacekeepers in Kazakhstan has been completed, they are guarding important military and state facilities in Almaty. "Currently, units of the peacekeeping forces are carrying out tasks to protect important military, state and socially significant facilities in the city of Alma-Ata and the surrounding areas," Serdyukov said.
"I express my gratitude to the Kazakh side for the prompt solution of the issues of deployment and provision of military contingents with everything necessary," the commander said.
Russian military aviation will take out of Kazakhstan citizens of the Russian Federation who have expressed a desire to return, Serdyukov said. "Russian citizens who are on vacation in Alma-Ata or with relatives who have expressed a desire to travel to the territory of the Russian Federation have been sent by military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces," the general said.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, about 1,600 citizens want to use export flights to return from Kazakhstan to Russia.
The number of the CSTO peacekeeping contingent in Kazakhstan is up to 2.5 thousand people, if necessary, it will be increased, CSTO Spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov told Interfax on January 7.
The actions of the CSTO peacekeeping forces in Kazakhstan are led by the commander of the Airborne Troops of the Russian Federation Serdyukov, a general with Syrian combat experience.
According to official data of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, elite units have been sent to Kazakhstan as part of the CSTO contingent - the 45th separate special purpose brigade of the Airborne Forces, the 98th Airborne Division and the 31st separate airborne assault Brigade.
The number of the Russian contingent is not officially called.
The Armenian Defense Ministry announced the dispatch of a peacekeeping unit of 100 military personnel to Kazakhstan. The ministry reported that the Armenian Armed Forces unit will exclusively protect strategic facilities.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry announced that it had sent a peacekeeping company from the 103rd Airborne Vitebsk Brigade of special operations forces to Kazakhstan.
