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Former Russian forces commander in Georgia unhappy about pullout

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  • Former Russian forces commander in Georgia unhappy about pullout

    Former Russian forces commander in Georgia unhappy about pullout
    14:31

    RIA Novosti, Russia
    June 2 2005

    MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - Withdrawing its military bases from
    Georgia is a major geopolitical loss for Russia, says Lieutenant
    General Yuri Netkachev, who once served as deputy commander of
    Russia's Task Force in the Transcaucasia, Voyenno-Promyshlenny Kuryer,
    a weekly, reported.

    "They will sweep off our bases, and the Turks, or Americans, or
    whoever will come after us. The niche will be filled," he told the
    Russian defense weekly.

    Netkachev complained about the lack of a consistent state policy in
    the post-Soviet territories for the last decade. Georgian President
    Mikhail Saakashvili offends Russia and its citizens, imposes various
    restrictions on the Russian military in Georgia, while Moscow just
    says it will fire back with sanctions and never does, he said.

    "At first we said it will take us 11 years to go, now we have agreed to
    four years," he said, adding the pullout from Batumi and Akhalkalaki,
    where the two Russian bases are deployed, will be far from smooth.

    "The locals will just not let us go. Akhalkalaki is a mostly
    Armenian-populated place, and they would rather separate from Georgia
    than let the people and equipment return to Russia. The same thing
    can be said for Batumi. Our bases there mean jobs for people, a factor
    of stability."

    Netkachev predicts that Saakashvili will wage war on Georgia's
    breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia before the ink
    dries on the pullout agreement.

    "With his hands untied, Saakashvili will begin war first against
    South Ossetia, then with Abkhazia," he said. "Is this not why he
    has tripled his military budget? They are buying tanks, warplanes,
    helicopters, which all promise a big war in the future. The Ossetians
    and the Abkhaz will never let go of their land in Georgia."

    Netkachev said most people living in these provinces have Russian
    citizenship.

    The 3,000-man Russian task force deployed in Georgia has 150 battle
    tanks, 240 armored vehicles and 140 artillery systems.
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