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Putin signs law ratifying deal with Tajikistan on integrated air defense

The document stipulates that the defense ministers of both countries will be empowered to approve and, if possible, amend the list of military command centers, command posts, military formations and units assigned to the integrated air defense system

MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on ratifying an agreement between Russia and Tajikistan on setting up an integrated air defense system, according to the document posted on the government’s legal information web portal on Thursday.

Under the document, the sides will create an integrated regional air defense system as an integral part of the CIS joint air defenses. For this purpose, a separate collective security area will be established within the bounds of Tajikistan’s territory and airspace.

The document stipulates that the defense ministers of both countries will be empowered to approve and, if possible, amend the list of military command centers, command posts, military formations and units assigned to the integrated air defense system. Under the agreement, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces will coordinate the joint operations of troops of the integrated regional air defense system and forces from other regional air defense systems in the Central Asian collective security region.

The Russian Central Military District’s commander will exercise general command and control of the Russian forces within the integrated air defense system while joint operations within the bounds of the separate collective security region will be directed by the Tajik Air and Air Defense Force chief, the document says.

The deal was inked in Dushanbe on April 27, 2021. As Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu pointed out, the agreement is set to raise the reliability of the state border protection in the airspace. The document was signed for five years with the option of its further prolongation for subsequent five-year periods.

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