January 8, 2003: The Russian's Federal Border Service [FPS] will field a new mountain-trained unit in the near future, to reinforce the Russian-Georgian border along Chechnya's mountain passes. The unit has been conducting field experiments since November 2002. The units will be a mix of conscripts and contract soldiers, but all received special mountain warfare training. They will also be equipped with fairly modern anti-tank missiles and since the rebels use donkeys for mountain transportation, these weapons are obviously intended to help dig their targets out of caves and "sangers" (firing positions made of stone). Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Red Army had several mountain warfare divisions but all of those were disbanded over a decade ago. - Adam Geibel