36 CATAN AND OTHERS v. MOLDOVA AND RUSSIA JUDGMENT killed by British soldiers. Even in Ilaşcu the Court based itself on two sets of arguments in order to find Russian jurisdiction: first, that the “MRT” was subject to Russia’s dominant influence, but also that the applicants had been arrested and transferred to “MRT” custody by Russian soldiers. In Ilaşcu the Court’s decision was based on the fact that Russia had directly been involved in the arrest and, following the ratification of the Convention, did not make sufficient efforts to secure their release. In the present case, the Russian Government emphasised that there was no causal link between the presence of the Russian forces in Transdniestria and the treatment of the applicants’ schools. On the contrary, the Russian Government had tried to resolve the schools crisis by acting as a mediator. Moreover, the Russian Government contended that there was no evidence that Russia exercised effective military or political control in Transdniestria. If the Court were to find Russian jurisdiction in this case, this would effectively mean that Russia would be responsible under the Convention for any violations taking place in Transdniestria, notwithstanding the insignificant size of the Russian military presence there. The Court should, therefore, find that the facts complained of fell outside Russia’s jurisdiction under Article 1 of the Convention. 98. The Russian Government did not provide any figures regarding the amount of weapons still stored at Colbaşna in Transdniestria. However, they insisted that most of the weapons, ammunition and military property was removed between 1991 and 2003. In 2003, when the Moldovan Government refused to sign the Memorandum on the Establishment of the United Moldovan State (“the Kozak Memorandum”), the “MRT” blocked the removal of any further items. According to the Russian Government, the cooperation of the Moldovan authorities was also needed, since they had blocked the use of the railway line from Transdniestria into Moldovancontrolled territory. At present, only shells, hand grenades, mortar bombs and small-arms ammunition were stored in the warehouses. Over 60% of this equipment was to be destroyed at the end of its warranty period, but the Russian Government did not specify when this would be. Moreover, its destruction would only be possible once agreement had been reached on environmental safety. The Russian Government emphasised that they had a responsibility to safeguard the arms store and protect against theft but nonetheless felt themselves under pressure to remove the 1,000 servicemen stationed in Transdniestria to guard it. In addition to this small contingent, there were approximately 1,125 Russian soldiers stationed in the Security Area as part of the internationally agreed peace-keeping force. The Security Area was 225 km long and 12-20 km wide. In the Russian Government’s view, it was evident that the presence of a few hundred Russian soldiers guarding the military warehouses and executing their peacekeeping functions could not be the instrument of effective overall control in Transdniestria.