RUSSIAN OFFICERS TRAPPED IN ARMENIAN GYUMRI
GYUMRI, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS: Some 500 Russian officers and
soldiers temporarily stationed at a Russian military base in Armenia’s
Gyumri have been refused Georgian visas for one month already which
they need to cross Georgia’s border to be deployed at a Russian
military base in southern Georgian Akhalkalaki.
According to A-Info news agency, some 800 officers of the
Akhalkalaki base, mostly of Armenian origin, were redeployed in Russia
after appointment of a new commander of Russian forces in South
Caucasus, who is seated in Tbilisi. Some 500 Russian officers and
sergeants were dispatched to replace them. The agency cited its
sources as saying that previously Russians were allowed to cross
Georgia’s border after paying hefty bribes to Georgian bodyguards.
Now, according to the same sources, this is practically impossible.