Russian Military Families In Kyrgyzstan To Return Home

BISHKEK -- The commander of Russia's military base in Kyrgyzstan says the families of most officers and servicemen will return to Russia beginning on March 1, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Vladimir Nosov told journalists that the Russian Defense Ministry recently imposed new rules on its military personnel serving abroad. Their families will no longer be allowed to live with them on a permanent basis.

Russia opened its military base in Kant, north of Bishkek, in 2003, within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States' Collective Security Treaty. There are some 250 Russian officers and around 150 other personnel stationed there.

Nosovo said that eventually up to 90 percent of the military personnel at Kant will be sent to Russia and replaced by troops without families.