RUSSIAN OFFICERS INCREASINGLY AT RISK IN TAJIKISTAN.

Even as the Tajik ceasefire agreement was being signed, Col. Viktor Chesnokov of Tajikistan’s Defense Ministry died of wounds sustained while commanding Tajik government troops in Tavildara. Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Chubarov, deputy defense minister of Tajikistan, praised Chesnokov for "faithfully serving the motherland." (Itar-Tass, Interfax, December 12) Chubarov personally commands the Tajik government forces in the Pamir foothills, the main theater of hostilities. The deputy minister of internal affairs of Tajikistan, Maj. Gen. Gennady Blinov, oversees the special troops operating there. The government’s reverses in the most recent phase of the fighting have increased the exposure of the Tajik forces’ Russian commanders.

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