DUSHANBE, July 15, 2009, Asia-Plus -- By Russian president’s decree of June 30, 2009 Colonel Igor Krasin was appointed commander of the Russian military base in Tajikistan, replacing Major-General Aleksey Zavizyon.

According to the headquarters of the base in Dushanbe, a ceremonial meeting on this subject was held at the headquarters on July 14.

Major-General Zavizyon had been commander of the Russian military base in Tajikistan since 2006.

Colonel Igor Krasin was born in Samarqand in 1966.  He graduated from Higher Military School in Tashkent in 1987 and Military Academy named after Mikhail Frunze in Moscow in 2000.  In 2009, Colonel Krasin graduated from the Academy of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

In 2005-2007, Colonel Krasin served as deputy commander of Russia’s Motorized Rifle Division 201 in Tajikistan.

Tajik and Russian presidents dedicated the first permanent Russian military base in Tajikistan on October 17, 2004.  President Emomali Rahmon and President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement establishing permanent posts in Tajikistan for the troops of the base formed on the basis Russia’s Motorized Rifle Division 201 and formalizing the legal status of the unit’s presence on October 16, 2004.  The military base’s personnel are located in Dushanbe, Qurghon Teppa, and Kulob.