Speaking in Grozny on 3 March, Chief of the General Staff General Anatolii Kvashnin said that beginning on 5 March, more than 1,000 Russian servicemen will be withdrawn from Chechnya to their place of permanent deployment. The total number of troops currently in Chechnya is estimated at 80,000. Kvashnin said most of them are regular army troops, but some are Interior Ministry forces. Kvashnin added that there are no longer any Defense Ministry troops deployed in the lowland region of Chechnya where law and order is being maintained by Interior Ministry forces. (Interfax)