Tajikistan was the only Central Asian Republic to not form an army under the Soviet Armed Forces . In replacement were the Soviet units under the Ministry of Defence , as well as troops who were subordinates of the Turkestan Military District and the Central Asian Military District in neighboring Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan respectively . In the early 1990s the army was the smallest in the union and had more Russians than native Tajiks in it . The army failed to effectively defend the regime as proven in the 1990 Dushanbe riots . There was a large contingent of Soviet border guards who were commanded by Russians based from Moscow who commanded ethnic Tajik conscripts . When the TurkVO was dissolved in June 1992 , it 's personnel were distributed between Tajikistan and the other 4 Central Asian republics
1990 Dushanbe riots
1990 Dushanbe riots
Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic