Maj.Gen. Murat Kulakhmetov, new commander of the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in the South Ossetian conflict zone, arrived in Georgia on September 8 to replace Sviatoslav Nabzdorov.
He held talks with Secretary of the Georgian National Security Council Gela Bezhuashvili and later on the same day left for the Tskhinvali region to get acquainted with the situation on the scene.
Before taking up the new position Maj.Gen. Kulakhmetov commanded the 19th Division of the Russian armed forces deployed in Russia?s North Ossetian Republic.