SSR and Kirghiz SSR. They were also used in Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia. In 1990, they were used in Vilnius to suppress the Lithuanian independence movements. Soviet Union successor states In 1991, the BTR-60s of the Soviet Army was passed on to the armies of the successor states and thus used in many regional conflicts. 27 BTR-60PBs that were inherited by Moldavia were used by its army during the War of Transnistria. A number of BTR-60s were used by the Georgian army during the 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia. As of 2007, several hundred BTR-60s remain in service with USSR successor states; these are in a process of being replaced by more modern vehicles. Russia The Russian Army deployed the BTR-60PB during the First Chechen War, but shortly thereafter retired the vehicle type from army service. Since the mid-1990s, nearly all BTR-60s remaining in Russia's active inventory have been operated by the Border Service. One exception is the BTR-60PU, which has been retained as a command vehicle in the Russian NBC Protection Troops. During the late 2000s, the Russian BTR-60PUs were all refurbished and upgraded with new engines adapted from the BTR-80 series, receiving the designation BTR-60PUM. Some of these BTR-60PUMs were deployed in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, with at least one being captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Moldova Moldova inherited 27 BTR-60PBs from the Soviet Union. They were used during the War of Transnistria against the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Moldova also ordered 161 ex-Romanian TAB-71Ms in 1992, which were delivered between 1992 and 1995. Moldova also inherited 20 BTR-70s from the Soviet Union and received 250 TAB Zimbrus and MLI-84s from Romania. In the end of March 1992, the Moldavian army was trying to sever the connection between Tiraspol and Rîbnița. Five out of the six BTRs used during that operation were lost. On 1 April, two BTRs were used during the assault on Bender. In June, dozen of APCs were used during another assault on the city. Georgia In 1992, the separatist state of Abkhazia declared Independence from Georgia and the War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) began. Georgia sent its troops to Abkhazia to stabilize the region. The 3,000-man force was poorly equipped with military vehicles, having only five T-55 main battle tanks, a few BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, three BTR-60/70 armoured personnel carriers and a small number of BM-21 Grad MRLs.