Russian peacekeepers arrive in Abkhazia

MOSCOW, May 3 (UPI) -- Russian troops have joined other peacekeepers in Abkhazia and are in the republic's Tkvarcheli district, a Russian Defense Ministry official said.

Russian Defense Ministry press service head Vyacheslav Sedov said the additional peacekeeper units have been stationed in observation posts in the Abkhazian district in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone, ITAR-TASS reported Saturday.

The Russian troops join members of the Commonwealth of Independent States forces already stationed in the region.

Supervised by officers of the joint staff of the commonwealth's collective forces, the peacekeepers have been working on observation equipment and service organization, Sedov said.

The number of Russian peacekeepers in the region was increased from 2,000 based on prior decisions from commonwealth leaders, ITAR-TASS said.