The two Presidents first inspected the base’s installations and equipment and then went to the headquarters, where the base’s commander, Major-General Alexei Zavizyon, explained the base’s work, its possibilities and development prospects, the personnel situation, and its relations with the Tajikistani authorities.
The military unit stationed at the base traces its history back to the rifle division formed on June 1, 1943, on the Leningrad front. The division was stationed in Tajikistan in August 1945, after the end of the Great Patriotic War.
The 201st Division is stationed in Tajikistan on the basis of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance signed in May 1993. A special treaty on the status and conditions for the presence of the Russian military base on Tajikistan’s territory was signed in April 1999. Russia and Tajikistan signed an intergovernmental agreement on the personnel and organisational structure of the base on October 16, 2004.
The 201st Russian motorised rifle division has had the status of a military base since October 1, 2005.