Thread: Russia battles Georgia over breakaway region of South Osseti

Russia battles Georgia over breakaway region of South Ossetia

Kremlin retaliates for Georgian military assault to regain control of rebel region

Anil Dawar, Helen Womack in Moscow and Peter Walker guardian.co.uk, Friday August 08 2008 19:00 BST

Link to this video http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2 ... ia.ossetia
Helen Womack reports from Moscow

Georgia and Russia were today on the brink of full-scale war after Russian tanks rolled across the border to back separatists in the breakaway South Ossetia region.

With many hundreds of people feared to have been killed and the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, reported to have been severely damaged, Georgia said it was pulling 1,000 of its troops out of Iraq to redeploy them against Russia.

Georgia, a strong US ally, currently has 2,000 soldiers in Iraq, but half would now be withdrawn, a Georgian official, who described them as "some of our best soldiers", said.

The South Ossetian president, Eduard Kokoity, told Russian media that an estimated 1,400 people had died due to "Georgian aggression" against the region. The figure could not be verified.

The Russian incursion began after Georgia launched a major military offensive to retake control of South Ossetia, which has enjoyed de facto autonomy since the early 1990s but officially remains part of the country.

Only Russia has recognised its self-declared independence.

The Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili, said the two countries were already effectively at war.

"Russia is fighting a war with us in our own territory," he told CNN. "We are a freedom-loving nation that is right now under attack."

He called on the US to intervene, saying it was in Washington's interests to help his country.

Tskhinvali was reported to have suffered badly under heavy bombardment.

An official from the breakaway government said 1,000 people had been killed, although there was no independent verification of the figure.

"I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings, in cars," one woman, Lyudmila Ostayeva, who fled with her family to a village near the Russian border, told the Associated Press.

"It's impossible to count them now. There is hardly a single building left undamaged."

In the heaviest fighting to afflict South Ossetia since the 1991-92 war in which it broke away from Georgia, a Russian army spokesman said tank and artillery units had "destroyed" Georgian positions around Tskhinvali.

A truce, agreed in 1992, is monitored by soldiers from Russia, Georgia and the neighbouring Russian region of North Ossetia, with which South Ossetia has close ties.

Earlier today, Saakashvili said 150 Russian tanks and armoured vehicles had entered the region and that his forces had shot down two Russian planes over Georgian territory.

At least 10 Russian peacekeepers were killed and 30 injured.



Russian forces moved towards Tskhinvali and bombed a military airbase outside the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, after the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, said it was his duty to punish those responsible for the deaths of his fellow nationals.

A majority of the roughly 70,000 people living in South Ossetia are ethnically distinct from Georgians, and many have Russian passports.

The US and EU urged an immediate end to hostilities.

"The European Union, in liaison with all the protagonists, is working towards a ceasefire so as to avoid an extension of the conflict," an EU statement said.

The US state department said Washington was sending an envoy to the region. "We support Georgia's territorial integrity and call for an immediate ceasefire," a spokesman added.

Russian forces moved across the border as Georgian troops held a three-hour ceasefire to allow civilians to be evacuated.

Link to this audio http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audio/2 ... ia.georgia

Listen to Helen Womack discuss the flare-up in more detail

Before the Russian tanks rolled in, Medvedev told reporters: "Under the constitution and federal law ... I must protect the life and dignity of Russian citizens wherever they are."

Early today, Georgian troops exchanged fire with convoys carrying volunteer fighters over the border to support the separatists.

Georgia said Russian SU-24 jets had entered its airspace and bombed two locations, including Gori, the birthplace of the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, south of the Ossetian enclave. Russia denied this.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister and former president, said "aggressive" action by Georgia would incur a "response".

"The Georgian leadership has unleashed a dirty adventure," a ministerial statement said. "Blood spilled in South Ossetia will be blamed on these people and their associates."

Speaking through the Interfax news agency from China, where he is attending the Olympics, Putin blamed the Georgian leadership for its aggressive stance.

"Heavy weapons and artillery have been sent there, and tanks have been added," Putin said.

"Deaths and injuries have been reported, including among Russian peacekeepers. It's all very sad and alarming. And, of course, there will be a response."

The Kremlin decided to move into South Ossetia after Russia's security council met to discuss how to restore peace and defend civilians. Moscow has stressed it has a peacekeeping mandate and will act on it.

Saakashvili, who has ordered reservists into action, said "the greater part" of South Ossetia had been "liberated". Interfax said Georgian troops had entered Tskhinvali, but this was denied by Georgia.

The crisis in the Caucasus represents the first major test for Medvedev, but Putin's comments from China suggest he is calling the shots.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/au ... ia.russia2

http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/confl ... _georgia-0

The US administration urged for an immediate cease-fire in the conflict between Russia and Georgia over the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia.

In the meantime, Russian officials believe that it was the USA that orchestrated the current conflict. The chairman of the State Duma Committee for Security, Vladimir Vasilyev, believes that the current conflict is South Ossetia is very reminiscent to the wars in Iraq and Kosovo.

“The things that were happening in Kosovo, the things that were happening in Iraq – we are now following the same path. The further the situation unfolds, the more the world will understand that Georgia would never be able to do all this without America. South Ossetian defense officials used to make statements about imminent aggression from Georgia, but the latter denied everything, whereas the US Department of State reloaded not comments on the matter. In essence, they have prepared the force, which destroys everything in South Ossetia, attacks civilians and hospitals. They are responsible for this. The world community will learn about it,â€

Here the news: http://samsonblinded.org/news/governmen ... ussia-2647 Â*Israelis supply weapons to Georgia!

Hi tranquill! It's not just the weapons, but military advisors and training


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25684774/

updated 11:34 a.m. ET, Tues., July. 15, 2008

VAZIANI, Georgia - One thousand U.S. troops began a military training exercise in Georgia on Tuesday against a backdrop of growing friction between Georgia and neighboring Russia.

Officials said the exercise, called "Immediate Response 2008," had been planned for months and was not linked to a stand-off between Moscow and Tbilisi over two Russian-backed separatists regions of Georgia.

The United States is an ally of Georgia and has irritated Russia by backing Tbilisi's bid to join the NATO military alliance.
Story continues below ↓
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"The main purpose of these exercises is to increase the cooperation and partnership between U.S. and Georgian forces," Brig. Gen. William B. Garrett, commander of the U.S. military's Southern European Task Force, told reporters.

The war games involve 600 Georgian troops and smaller numbers from ex-Soviet Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

The two-week exercise was taking place at the Vaziani military base near the capital Tbilisi, which was a Russian air force base until Russian forces withdrew at the start of this decade under a European arms reduction agreement.

Close cooperation
Georgia and the Pentagon cooperate closely. Georgia has a 2,000-strong contingent supporting the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, and Washington provides training and equipment to the Georgian military.

Georgia last week recalled its ambassador in Moscow in protest at Russia sending fighter jets into Georgian airspace. Tbilisi urged the West to condemn Russia's actions.

Russia said the flights were to prevent Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili from launching a military operation against the separatist South Ossetia region.

Moscow accuses Saakashvili of preparing to restore Tbilisi's control over South Ossetia and the second breakaway region of Abkhazia by force. Tbilisi says that is a pretext for Russia to effectively annex large chunks of Georgian territory.

And just to repost a related link I shared on another thread - http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 36,00.html