The central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan has for the first time begun patrolling its own borders without Russian military help.

Until now Moscow commanded three-thousand mainly Kyrgyz border troops on Kyrgyzstan's long mountainous frontier with China and Tajikistan.

The BBC Central Asia correspondent says the handing over of responsibility is seen as part of a wider reappraisal of Russian military commitments within the former Soviet Union, following Russia's financial crisis.

But she says Russia is unlikely to fully withdraw from neighbouring Tajikistan and Turkmenistan because they are seen as the final buffer against Afghanistan and its radical Islamic politics.