Russia SU-25s (ground attack aircraft) deployed in Kyrgyzstan have arrived at the Ayni airfield in Tajikistan for participation in a joint Russia-Tajik antiterrorism exercise, Russian media report.

Citing Colonel Yaroslav Roshchupkin, a spokesman for Russia’s Central Military District, RIA Novosti reported on December 9 that Russian ground attack aircraft together with combat helicopters of the Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan have provided air support for Tajik and Russian servicemen participating in the exercise.

According to Roshchupkin, the purpose of the exercise is to rehearse coordination and interaction in combat mission to annihilate terrorist groups, their bases and training camps.

Upon completion of the exercise, Russian SU-25s will return to the air base in Kyrgyzstan, Roshchupkin said.  

Kant Air Base is a military air base in Ysyk-Ata district of Chuy oblast in Kyrgyzstan.  It is located just south of the city of Kant, some 20 km east of downtown Bishkek.  In accordance with a bilateral agreement between Russia and Kyrgyzstan signed on September 22, 2003, the air base hosts Russian Air Force units.  The official opening took place on October 23, 2003, making the facility the first new air base Russia opened abroad since 1991.  The unit stationed there has been described as Russian Air Force's 5th Air Army's 999th Air Base.

In December 2012, Kyrgyzstan agreed to lease the base to Russia for fifteen years (with an option for an automatic extension for an additional five years) after the Russian government agreed to reduce some Kyrgyz debt by some $500 million.

Kant Air Base today acts as the Central Asian hub for the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Meanwhile, in a statement delivered at a press conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev noted on December 1 that Russia needs to leave its air base that it operates in Kyrgyzstan, according to EurasiaNet.org. 

Atambayev reportedly made the comments during a four-hour press conference on December 1.  “In the future, Kyrgyzstan should rely only on its own forces…Keep in mind that there was an agreement on the Russian base, signed on our side by [former president Kurmanbek] Bakiyev, under which ... the military base was supposed to stay for 49 years and then be extended for 25 more.  We left it only for 15 years.”

Atambayev was referring to an agreement signed in 2012 which consolidated Russian control over the several military facilities it operates in Kyrgyzstan. That includes the air base at Kant.  The next year, Kyrgyzstan refused to renew the agreement it had with the United States over the American air base also near Bishkek, and the Americans left the following year.

Atambayev has made similar comments in the past.  In 2012, he said Kyrgyzstan “doesn't need a Russian base.”  In 2015, he said: “We have a long term agreement, but sooner or later in the future Kyrgyzstan will have to defend itself, without relying on the bases of brotherly friendly countries.”