PARATROOPS WITHDRAWN FROM MOSCOW

. Having purportedly "fulfilledtheir task," paratroop units were withdrawn from the streetsof Moscow and returned to their bases, the Defense Ministry announcedvia ITAR-TASS August 9. The 3,500 paratroopers, along with 16,000other troops, had been deployed in Moscow since June 16, "toprevent Chechen terrorist acts." It was widely believed inMoscow, however, that the deployment constituted a demonstrationof muscle in response to the motion of no confidence in the governmentwhich was then being debated in the Duma.

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