Tuesday, December 1 2015 13:59

Information that Russia increases its military presence in Armenia is neither refuted nor confirmed. However, information spread in some Russian editions citing unidentified sources in Russia's Defence Ministry testifies to the fact that Russia takes such steps. The question is about deploying thousands of servicemen. 

According to the published information, on November 29 president Vladimir Putin ordered the 58th Army of the North Caucasus military district to immediately deploy  "select" regiments and Radio Electronic Combat forces, anti-aircraft, rocket systems, antitank weapon systems, motorized rifle and artillery troops near Turkish-Armenian border, which in overall comprises nearly 7,000 troops. Meanwhile, the verify of this information remains under question, as the relevant structures and Russia's Defense Ministry do not respond to ArmInfo's official requests and do not respond either to publications in Russian mass media. 

Meanwhile, according to the ArmInfo's reliable sources, the defense capacity of 102nd base in Gyumri has been significantly reinforced, and the weapons have been increased. On November16 prior to the incident with Su-24, which was shot down by Turkish warplane on Syrian-Turkish border, "Ruslan" An-124 plane delivered weapons to Armenia, in the frameworks of the 200 mln USD contract between Armenia and Russia. Notably, the source confirmed the information of Armenian mass media that "Ruslan" arrived in Armenia through Azerbaijan's territory, but on his return the Azerbaijani authorities closed their air space and the plane had to return to the airport. 

At the same time, yesterday another interesting information was spread in mass media, according to which Russia's Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu paid a one-day secret visit to Armenia on November 27. The visit was related to a number of urgent issues, which somehow are connected with the contradictions in Russian-Turkish relations after the incident in Syrian air space. However, the press-service of Armenia's Defense Ministry rejected the information about Shoygu 's visit.