Moscow. January 13. INTERFAX - The CSTO peacekeeping contingent will be withdrawn from Kazakhstan on time, Secretary General of the organization Stanislav Zas said.
"In accordance with the will of the Kazakh side, the peacekeepers will be withdrawn to their permanent deployment points as planned," Zas said on Thursday in Alma-Ata at the ceremony of the completion of the CSTO peacekeeping operation.
The contingents of the CSTO peacekeeping forces marched at the ceremony, CSTO Spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov said.
The CSTO peacekeeping forces will begin withdrawing from Kazakhstan on January 13. The withdrawal of troops will take 10 days.
According to official data, the CSTO sent 2,030 peacekeepers and 250 pieces of equipment to Kazakhstan amid the unrest. The backbone of the peacekeeping contingent is the elite units of the Airborne Troops of Russia. The transfer of Russian paratroopers and other CSTO contingents to Kazakhstan was carried out by the military transport aviation of the Russian Federation. More than 70 Russian IL-76 and five AN-124 aircraft were involved in the operation.
"The CSTO peacekeeping operation conducted on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the request of the country's leadership is being phased out. Created by a unanimous decision of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO, the collective peacekeeping forces of the organization have honorably fulfilled the tasks assigned to them," Zas said at the ceremony.
He stated that the peacekeeping operation in Kazakhstan was the first real use of the collective forces of the CSTO. According to Zasya, this operation showed that "the defense potential of the CSTO is highly effective and really effective."
"Contrary to the negative assessments of the activities of the CSTO imposed by some of our enemies, our organization has shown its relevance and effectiveness, the ability to act quickly, decisively and effectively, without delay, which, as you know, sometimes "death is like," Zas said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the CSTO peacekeepers had begun transferring the protection of facilities to the power structures of Kazakhstan and preparing for the loading of equipment on airplanes.
Zas said at the ceremony that 108 flights of Russian military transport aircraft were carried out for the transfer of contingents to Kazakhstan.
The CSTO peacekeepers will be taken out of Kazakhstan by Russian military aircraft, Colonel-General Andrey Serdyukov, commander of the Russian Airborne Forces and the contingent of peacekeepers in Kazakhstan, said on January 11.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, units of the 45th Separate Airborne Special Purpose Brigade, the 98th Airborne Division and the 31st separate airborne assault Brigade were sent to Kazakhstan as part of the CSTO contingent.
