Il-76M aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Defense Ministry at the Chkalovsky airfield. File photoALMA-ATA, Jan 14CSTO peacekeepers from Armenia and Tajikistan left Kazakhstan on four planes of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces, RIA Novosti correspondent reports. The Il-76 planes took off from Alma-Ata airport. The military from Armenia fly in three planes, and the Tajik ones — in one, as they did not take military equipment with them to Kazakhstan. On the plane, together with the military from Tajikistan, a group of 31 cadets of the Military Institute of the Ground Forces of Kazakhstan went home for the holidays. The headquarters of the CSTO operation was located in the same educational institution. A little earlier that morning, units of the Kyrgyz armed forces guarding CHPP-2 went home, but not on planes, but on their own. The contingents of Russia, Belarus, and Armenia participated in the CSTO peacekeeping operation in Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The peacekeepers were entrusted with the protection of strategically important facilities. It is known that the Armenian contingent guarded the Aksai grain factory and the Druzhba pumping station, and the Tajik peacekeepers guarded the Alma-Ata thermal power plant-1. >The first units of Russian paratroopers from the CSTO forces returned to Ivanovo On Thursday, January 13, it was announced the successful completion of the operation, now the CSTO contingent is being withdrawn from Kazakhstan. As reported by the Ministry of Defense, Russian peacekeepers, together with law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan, took full control of the Alma- And you. The Russian peacekeeping forces included units of the 45th Special Forces Brigade of the Airborne Forces, the 98th Airborne Division and the 31st Separate Airborne Brigade, all with combat experience. The commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, Colonel-General Andrey Serdyukov, directs the actions of the CSTO peacekeeping forces in Kazakhstan.
