საქართველო გადარჩება

News - ახალი ამბები

2009-01-26T17:26:00.000-08:00

ევროსაბჭო რუსეთისაგან ოქტომბრის საპარლამენტო ასამბლეაზე მიღებული რეზოლუციის შესრულებას მოითხოვს

ევროსაბჭოს საპარლამენტო ასამბლეა მიიჩნევს, რომ რუსეთი საქართველო-რუსეთის ომთან დაკავშირებით შარშან, ოქტომბერში ევროსაბჭოს საპარლამენტო ასამბლეა მიღებულ რეზოლუციას ამ დრომდე არ ასრულებს. ასეთი შინაარსის არის მოხსენება, რომელიც თანამომხსენებლებმა „საქართველო-რუსეთის ომის შედეგების შესახებ" მოამზადეს და რომელსაც ასამბლეა ოთხშაბათს, 28 იანვარს განიხილავს.

News-ახალი ამბები

2009-01-22T17:05:00.000-08:00

მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ხვალ მოსახლეობის კითხვებს პირდაპირ ეთერში უპასუხებს

საქართველოს პრეზიდენტი მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ხვალ პირველად საქართველოს მოსახლეობის კითხვებს პირდაპირ ეთერში უპასუხებს.

Russian war and Georgian democracy

2009-01-17T12:36:00.000-08:00

Russia says it has started pulling back from Georgian soil, but there are few if any signs that it means business. Therefore, the war is not over yet. Despite this, Neal Ascherson and Ivan Krastev have on openDemocracy already started taking stock of the possible results of the war. I will join them in these attempts - though all of us should understand that while Russia continues trying to change the situation on the ground through military means, any such assessments can only be rather tentative.

A humanitarian disaster

The loss of life - in Georgia proper and in South Ossetia - and the humanitarian catastrophe that ensued from the war are obviously the most disturbing results. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has calculated the figure of the displaced people on the Georgian side at approximately 128,000. If the Russians do pull back, the figure will be considerably reduced as most people will return to their homes even if they are looted and damaged. However, at least 20,000 of these Georgians come from Abkhazia and South Ossetia: their return is unthinkable unless a new security regime maintained by the international community is instituted in these breakaway territories.

Even if Russia shows the goodwill to accept such a change (and it would take enormous international pressure to achieve this), this will take time. In addition, there are Georgian villages adjacent to South Ossetia fully or partially destroyed under the Russian occupation, with people there having gone through hell. Under the circumstances, they will be scared to return until very firm international-security guarantees are established: again, a very big if.

This means that, for the time being, Georgia will have to deal with tens of thousands of recently displaced people. This is in addition to the huge numbers of internally-displaced people (IDPs) left after the conflicts in the same territories in the early 1990s. This will be a heavy economic and political strain. Currently, almost all Tbilisi's school-buildings are occupied by the IDPs, and nobody can tell when we will be able to start classes there. As of 21 August 2008, about 42,000 were registered as occupying Georgian educational institutions (mainly schools). Naturally, this is a major concern for this author, who is the minister of education in this country.

Quite a few of the recent IDPs are mad at this government - whom they blame (alongside Russia, of course) for their human tragedy. These people are likely to be used as combustible material by some opposition groups in the future, and Russia - which is unlikely to give up on her ambition to destabilise Georgia internally - will try to encourage that through her proxies in Georgia proper.

For separatist authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the war was a major victory. While Ossetians mourn their dead and start rebuilding with Russian help, they - as well as the Abkhaz - rejoice at their new sense of security. This is because Russians completed for them the task of ethnic cleansing of their territories. The IDPs say that the Georgian villages within South Ossetia are almost erased; Eduard Kokoity, the Ossetian separatist leader, asked rhetorically on 15 August 2008 why the return of the Georgians should be allowed "so that they can shoot (us) in the back again"; a week later he told the Russian online news agency that two Georgian enclaves in South Ossetia had been "liquidated". Unless the security regime in these territories changes dramatically, this will be irreversible.The spirit of the nation

As I argued in my previous article written for openDemocracy ("The war for Georgia: Russia, the west, the future", 12 August 2008) - and almost all non-Russian analysts agree - this war was for the whole of Georgia, not for South Ossetia. Georgia's general direction, its project of becoming a European nation rather than Russia's satellite, was at stake. This made the moral and psychological aspect of the war no less important than the territorial one.

President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia said that his country came out of this war as a moral victor. This is not the mere posturing of a politician whom even some observers generally sympathetic to Georgia called "hot-headed" and "irresponsible" for his conduct during the August 2008 war. The genuine theatre of war was the spirit of the Georgian nation and the validity of Georgian political and economic institutions. It should not be forgotten that just a few years ago Georgia was commonly called a "failing state".

While the vast majority of the Georgian people emphatically assert their commitment to western institutions and values, we also understand that these values have not sufficiently taken root in Georgia, as old customs and attitudes based in the Russian and Soviet past die hard. Georgia is an aspiring democracy, but not a consolidated one. This gave Russia hope that Georgia's ambition to become a western democracy could yet be reversed; some Georgians were not sure whether the nation would be firm enough under the Russian pressure, while still others were actually looking forward to returning to the old ways under a new Russian-installed government.

If there is a rational explanation at all for the procrastination of the Russian troops - who continue widening the geographical scope of their destructive actions while their president sets and breaks new timetables for the withdrawal - it is that continuing the state of uncertainty, destruction and humiliation could still allow for the objective of regime change in Georgia. If Russia fails to achieve this objective, than it is justified to speak of Georgia's political as well as moral victory.

The main indicators of such a victory are the sustainability of Georgian institutions and the strength of the spirit of the nation. On both these counts, and despite considerable strain, so far Georgia has stood the test. There were brief moments of panic (such as late on the night of 11 August, when a rumour spread that Russian tanks were advancing to Tbilisi); but overall, in places which were not directly occupied, life continued as usual. The banking system took only one day off, and there was no mass cash withdrawal. The Georgian currency, the lari, remained stable. Energy supplies were normal in all but the occupied areas, and there were no food shortages. There were no public disturbances. A group of felons escaped from one of the prisons in western Georgia, but most of them are recaptured already. Trains arrived on time - until Russia blew up the main railway-bridge. A flood of new IDPs constituted the major challenge, but all of them now have a roof over their heads and relief efforts have been organised. Even under occupation, the Georgian state did not fail in its main routine functions.

A few people in Georgia would probably welcome a Russian-installed government. However, the fact is that no political group publicly voiced support for the Russian position - and most meaningful opposition groups announced that they were suspending political infighting with the government. In the Georgian media, numerous people criticised the government's actions before and during the war, but not from the pro-Russian position. As is normal for any nation, it rallied around its leadership in the face of foreign aggression, while at the same time people voiced criticism of specific government actions.

Everybody understands this moral victory is yet to be consolidated and there lie serious internal challenges ahead. Many people hold the government responsible for the humanitarian disaster and territorial looses caused by the war, and as the situation calms down, the opposition may take advantage of this sentiment to attack the government. If this stays within acceptable democratic procedures, this will only be normal; but - given the Georgian record of successful or attempted unconstitutional changes of power - there are always fears that things can get out of hand, and Russia will try to help destabilise the situation through its Georgian proxies. But the resilience that Georgian institutions have shown so far gives solid ground to believe that this scenario can be avoidedThe biggest unknown: Russia

The trajectory of Georgia's development after the war with Russia is not fully clear; but the future of Russian-western relations - a factor which of course has direct implications for the future of Georgia - is the biggest unknown.

The results of the Nato ministerial meeting on 19 August gave some sense of direction: the conflict brought Georgia one step closer to Nato (through establishing a permanent Nato-Georgian commission) and further estranged Russia from the alliance (through suspending the activities of the Nato-Russian council). But these steps are rather miniscule in themselves and nobody can tell how far the process will go.

The main problem is that the west appears to be confused and divided on the Russia issue. In the context of war with Georgia, Russia could only procure the support of countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Syria. It is logical to deduce from this, that it is close to joining the club of nations commonly called "rogue states" - those who openly defy the international consensus and create conspicuous dangers for international peace. However, western powers will find it difficult to act on this logic: the world cannot afford having a rogue state of such size and significance, so it seems better to deny the reality of the danger. The Russian government knows that and tries to take advantage of the situation. It is true that Russia - as Ivan Krastev has written on openDemocracy - does not have a clear strategy either: it acts on the feeling of resentment rather than rational calculation of its interest. But this does not help.

Energetic and effective western support is vital for the very existence of Georgia at the moment. However, we also understand the strategic complexity of the situation and do not want to be seen to be trying to provoke a new global conflict. Therefore, in conclusion, I want to focus on the moral side of the issue.

Europe has expressed especial moral strictness when it came to dealing with anything smacking of the Nazi legacy. The European Union imposed sanctions on Austria over the inclusion in government of the far-right politician Jörg Haider, who never clearly stated that Hitler's policies were correct or the that the German Reich should be restored, but was nonetheless believed to be a secret Nazi sympathiser. In January 2005, Prince Harry of Great Britain wore Nazi costume to a private fancy-dress party. The news leaked to the media and caused a public outrage; Prince Harry had to apologise. Such rigour stands in stark contrast to attitudes towards the communist legacy. For years, Russia has been is ruled by a group of unrepentant KGB officers - which would be the moral equivalent of a country governed by SS veterans proud of their record. This was considered OK - after all, so many former communists came to power in central European countries and honoured democratic rules and procedures.

But Vladimir Putin and his team are different. As any former Soviet citizen would say: there is no such thing as a former KGB officer. When current Russian action is repeatedly compared to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, this is not just a historical parallel: there is a direct link. Putin was too young to take part in the invasion, but there is no evidence to suggest that even now he sees anything wrong in it (even though, in answering a question on a visit to Prague in 2006, he referred to it as a "tragic event"). He may have understood the inefficiency of the communist economic policy, but his system of values is hardly different from those of his role model, Yuri Andropov. He has openly lamented the break-up of the Soviet Union as the greatest political tragedy of the 20th century. What would happen had some German-speaking politician suggested that it's a pity Germany is now smaller than it was in 1939?

Putin is not a new Hitler nor even a new Stalin. It is unlikely that the world is on the brink of a new cold war: Russia has oil and gas but no ideological energy needed for that. But just because it is difficult to find a remedy for the Russian problem, it is not right to deceive oneself about the nature of Russian regime and the vitality of the Russian threat. Each nation (including Georgia, naturally) should act on an adequate understanding of it.

In that sense, open confrontation with Russia, however disastrous the human and economic costs, may also have some positive implications for the prospects of stable democracy in Georgia. For this country, Russia has not only been a security threat. It has also been the source from which the infection of illiberal political culture was spreading. Here, cultural closeness to a fellow-Orthodox country was a negative factor. As I said, democratic institutions are yet to fully consolidate in Georgia and the society is still not fully immune to the habits of the Soviet past: cultural and social closeness to Russia was an element reinforcing the power of these habits.

Being in open conflict with a huge and powerful neighbour has its challenges for democracy too - the obligation to consolidate around government does not necessarily encourage openness to political pluralism. However, after this war - whenever it can be said truly to have ended - Russia will have even less leverage for influencing Georgian society than it had before, and Georgia will have even stronger incentives to embrace the values and institutions of the democratic west.

Russian war and Georgian democracy

2009-01-17T12:35:00.000-08:00

A humanitarian disaster

The spirit of the nation

President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia said that his country came out of this war as a moral victor. This is not the mere posturing of a politician whom even some observers generally sympathetic to Georgia called "hot-headed" and "irresponsible" for his conduct during the August 2008 war. The genuine theatre of war was the spirit of the Georgian nation and the validity of Georgian political and economic institutions. One should not forget that just a few years ago Georgia was commonly called a "failing state".

The biggest unknown: Russia

CAUCASIAN WAR Russia Vs Georgia Conflict II

2009-01-17T05:40:00.000-08:00

Georgia & Russia WAR! cnn

2009-01-14T09:03:00.001-08:00

Georgia vs Russia War BREAKING NEWS 08.08.2008

2009-01-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

Georgia at War with South Ossetia (Russian)

2009-01-13T05:48:00.000-08:00

War in Georgia

2009-01-13T05:28:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 02 December 2008

NATO members have come to a compromise over membership action plans for Ukraine and Georgia at a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers in Brussels. The agreement offers support to the two former Soviet nations to help them develop their infrastructure and defence, but it does not provide any concrete plans of how or when they can join. The membership action plan (MAP) for Georgia and Ukraine was postponed due to concerns over political instability in Ukraine, and because of Georgia’s military conflict in South Ossetia in August this year. The MAP, launched in April 1999, assists those countries which want to join the alliance in their preparations by providing advice, assistance and practical support on all aspects of membership.
NATO foreign ministers agreed to gradually resume contacts with Russia, frozen after Russian military forces invaded Georgia in August. NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer announced the decision Tuesday, as NATO ministers met in Brussels for two days of wide-ranging talks. He said negotiations with Moscow will take place at the ambassador level. NATO ministers were also encouraging Georgia and Ukraine to pursue major political and economic reforms, with the aim of eventual entry into the alliance.
A Russian naval task force from the Northern Fleet and the Venezuelan navy have successfully conducted the VenRus-2008 joint exercises in the southern Caribbean, a Russian Navy spokesman said. "The active phase of the exercise was carried out according to a detailed plan, jointly developed by the Russian and Venezuelan navies," Capt 1st Rank Igor Dygalo said. "The Russian and Venezuelan warships have practiced deployment in the southern Caribbean, coordinated tactical maneuvering, air defense, search, pursuit and detention of a ship suspected of illegal activities," the spokesman said.

Monday 01 December 2008

The Russian Navy confirmed on 09 September 2008 that a fleet of warships belonging to the Russian Northern Fleet was preparing to cross the Atlantic Ocean and head for the Caribbean. The Venezuelan Defense Ministry says the Russian vessels will visit Caracas from November 24-30, when the joint exercises will begin. Washington immediately responded by mocking the Russian move, which is widely considered a response to NATO's increased naval presence in the Black Sea. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack jokingly said that if Russia really intended to send ships to the Caribbean, "then they found a few ships that can make it that far."
The squadron, led by the Northern Fleet’s flagship nuclear-powered Kirov-class battlecruiser Pyotr Veliky (named after Peter the Great, Czar Peter I of Russia) - one of the world’s largest heavily-armed nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers - will participate with the Venezuelan fleet in the Caribbean naval exercise in November 2008. During the joint exercises, the Russian navy is expected to deploy Moscow's most modern destroyer, the Udaloy-class Admiral Chabanenko anti-submarine destroyer, a rescue vessel and a tanker ship. This will be Russia’s first maneuver in the US backyard in nearly 20 years. The naval exercise will be conducted in Venezuelan waters between the 10th and 14th of November. The Russian and Venezuelan Navy will together perform dry runs of relief operations and test their tactical communication systems.
The official Russian governmental news service Russia Today stated that "The fact that the Russian cruiser was not designed as an instrument of attack, but instead for nuclear containment and defending nuclear submarines, this exercise looks more like an invitation to a dialogue with America rather than a military threat. Moreover, the fact that the American presidential campaign has entered its final stage, it is expected that both candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are going to exploit this naval exercise to their own benefit, verbalizing on the “return of the Russian threat”. This rhetoric may become the decisive factor for one of them to make the White House his home for the next four years."
The task force from the Northern Fleet is to visit the French naval base in Toulon on November 5-8. The Russian Navy commander, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, would meet with the French Navy chief of staff. After port calls and training at sea in the Mediterranean, the Northern Fleet warships will head for the Caribbean to hold exercises in November with Venezuela's navy.
Russia announced in 2007 that its Navy had resumed, and would build up, its constant presence in different regions of the world's oceans. A naval task force from Russia's Northern Fleet, consisting of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Udaloy-Class destroyers Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko, as well as auxiliary vessels, conducted from December 2007 to February 2008 a two-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic.

Saturday 29 November 2008

Dmitry Medvedev welcomed a decision by the U.S. not to push for Georgia and Ukraine`s entry into NATO using the alliance`s so-called membership action plan (MAP). The Russian President said he was “glad” that “common sense prevailed” in the end. Speaking in Cuba on the final leg of his South American tour, Medvedev said he didn’t know how Washington had cometo this conclusion, but said he was relieved wisdom had won the day at least at the end of this administration’s term. "Whether they finally listened to Europe or someone else, the main thing is that this idea will not be pushed forward with such frenzy and futility as it was a short time ago,” Medvedev said.

Tuesday 25 November 2008

Russian warships sailed into port in Venezuela for a series of joint military exercises that mark Russia's first deployment in the Caribbean since the Cold War. The vessels, including the nuclear-powered cruiser, Peter the Great, and the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko, arrived at the port of La Guaira, near Caracas, for the pending maneuvers. The ships sailed into port ahead of the arrival by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, who met this week with his host, President Hugo Chavez.

Wednesday 19 November 2008

Russia and Georgia wrapped up a round of talks aimed at easing tensions after a five-day war in August over Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia. The United Nations and European Union sponsored Wednesday's eight-party talks in Geneva. Officials from South Ossetia and from the breakaway region of Abkhazia attended the meeting, along with a representative from the United States. The talks may have accomplished little in terms of concrete solutions to the issues that continue to divide Russia and Georgia since the five-day war. What was significant, however, was the simple fact that the parties actually met. Similar talks held in Geneva last month fell apart without the sides ever gathering in the same room.

Tuesday 18 November 2008

Talks are scheduled to start in Geneva on the Russia-Georgia conflict. The first round of talks on the conflict began on October 15, but was suspended after the Georgian delegation refused to sit at the negotiating table with representatives of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Amnesty says all sides in the August conflict may have committed abuses. In its new report, Amnesty says Georgian and Russian forces and militia fighters in the breakaway South Ossetia region should be investigated for war crimes during the conflict. Amnesty's John Dalhuisen says there is strong evidence of human rights violations, noting concerns over "indiscriminate attacks by Georgian forces on entering Tskhinvali and then Russian forces in reply. "Amnesty is also very concerned with the "looting, pillaging and destruction of civilian property essentially by South Ossetian forces and militia groups in aftermath of the conflict," said Dalhuisen.

Saturday 15 November 2008

Talks due to start in Geneva on Tuesday 18 November on the recent Russia-Georgia conflict must "concentrate on essential security issues" in the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. "If we want to consider ways to guarantee security amid new conditions in the region and if we want to discuss issues that need to be resolved to create conditions for the return of refugees and displaced people we have to quit comparing status and put all procedural games to one side," Lavrov said in an interview broadcast Saturday on the Russian Ekho Moskvy radio station. He said that if these issues were resolved then the "two working groups on security and the creation of conditions for the return of refugees agreed on by the two presidents [Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy] will be able to calmly start work on the 18th of the month."

Monday 10 November 2008

The European Union said that talks on a new strategic partnership agreement with Russia would resume later this month, despite opposition from Lithuania. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told reporters after an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels: "The presidency statement clearly backs the position of the Commission that we must go on with our negotiations." She said negotiations could take place after a meeting in Geneva on the August Russia-Georgia conflict, scheduled for November 18.

Sunday 09 November 2008

Two former British military officers are expected to provide crucial evidence that the conflict in South Ossetia was unleashed by Georgia, a British newspaper said on Sunday 09 November 2008. "Ryan Grist, a former British Army captain, and Stephen Young, a former RAF wing commander, are said to have concluded that, before the Russian bombardment began, Georgian rockets and artillery were hitting civilian areas in the breakaway region of South Ossetia every 15 or 20 seconds," The Sunday Times reported. According to the paper, the accounts by the two former British officers, who were senior figures in the mission deployed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the conflict area, seem likely to undermine the U.S.-backed claims of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili that his little country was the innocent victim of Russian aggression.

Friday 07 November 2008

The New York Times has published an article which questions Georgia’s account of the conflict in South Ossetia in August this year. Based on the observations of OSCE monitors, it reports that Georgia was not acting defensively, but started the shelling of civilians in the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinval. “The accounts suggest that Georgia’s inexperienced military attacked the isolated separatist capital of Tskhinvali on August 7 with indiscriminate artillery and rocket fire, exposing civilians, Russian peacekeepers and unarmed monitors to harm,” says the New York Times report. It says the monitors did not record bombardments of Georgian villages prior to its attack on Tskhinval: “According to the monitors, however, no shelling of Georgian villages could be heard in the hours before the Georgian bombardment. At least two of the four villages that Georgia has since said were under fire were near the observers’ office in Tskhinvali, and the monitors there likely would have heard artillery fire nearby”.
The U.S. State Department said the Georgian attack in South Ossetia last August was a mistake, but that it did not justify Russia's large-scale intervention. The comments follow a critical newspaper assessment of the Tbilisi government's role in the crisis. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department. In its most specific comments on the subject to date, the State Department says Georgian leaders made a mistake when they attacked the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, in August. But officials here say overall culpability for the war may never be known, and the focus now should be on getting Georgia, and especially Russia, to heed ceasefire obligations, and help return the region to stability.

Tuesday 04 November 2008

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has replaced the country's military leader, saying "shortcomings" during a war with Russia need addressing. "We must not forget that the enemy still stands at our door," said Saakashvili, who had not previously criticized the military's performance despite Russia driving the Georgian Army from breakaway South Ossetia in just a few days in August's war.
Georgia's Foreign Ministry rejected Russian charges that the country is blocking planned talks on security in the Caucasus later this month. A ministry statement said Georgia is fully prepared to take part in the talks scheduled for November 18 and blamed Russia for the stalemate in the earlier round of discussions in Geneva held on October 15. Both Georgian and Russian delegates walked out of inaugural talks in Geneva earlier this month, after Georgia objected to Russian demands for the presence of separatist representatives at the session.

Tuesday 28 October 2008

Russia says it opposes the deployment of European Union monitors inside two Georgian breakaway territories that Moscow now recognizes as independent countries. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov outlined his country's view in St. Petersburg, alongside his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner. Lavrov said security in South Ossetia and a second Georgian breakaway territory, Abkhazia, will be guaranteed by thousands of Russian troops now deployed in the territories.
Russia's foreign minister warned Georgia that its refusal to attend Geneva talks along with South Ossetian and Abkhazian representatives would threaten regional security. Sergei Lavrov was asked by reporters to comment on remarks by Grigol Vashadze, a Georgian deputy foreign minister, that Tbilisi was ready for discussions in Geneva, scheduled for November 18, but opposed the participation of representatives from the separatist Georgian republics. "If Georgia really refuses to participate in the Geneva discussions while South Ossetian and Abkhazian representatives attend, this is sad. It is an outright challenge to all those concerned about regional security," Lavrov said following Russia-EU talks.
Russia says Georgia should not be allowed to use billions of dollars in aid from the EU to upgrade its military. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov brought the issue up at a meeting with representatives from the European Union in St. Petersburg. Diplomats also discussed ways of reviving talks on a new Russia-EU partnership, postponed in the wake of the South Ossetia conflict.
Russia will keep an eye on the countries that supplied weapons to Georgia, supporting Mikhail Saakashvili’s regime in August 2008, President Dmitry Medvedev said at today’s meeting of the presidential Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation with foreign countries. “We know how zealously some countries delivered weapons to Mikhail Saakashvili’s regime, spurring it to aggression; and currently they are actually re-loading this regime with new arms supplies,” Medvedev emphasized. “We will not forget it, shaping our policy accordingly, and I would like everyone to know that,” he added.

Monday 27 October 2008

Reports from Georgia say President Mikheil Saakashvili has fired reformist Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze. Mr. Gurgenidze, a 37-year-old technocrat and former banker, became prime minister late last year, with the primary task of attracting foreign investment and maintaining a high rate of economic growth. The five-day military conflict with Russia in August has since eroded investor confidence and slowed what otherwise was widely seen as a healthy economy. The move comes amid growing tensions between President Saakashvili and his former ally, the ex-speaker of parliament, Nino Burdzhanadze. She has announced she's forming an opposition party and is accusing the Georgian leader of preventing the formation of a democratic society.
Abkhazia doubts the ability of EU observers in Georgia to play a constructive role in preventing further conflict, Abkhazia's foreign minister said in a letter to the UN Security Council president. "The replacement of the CIS Collective Forces in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone with European Union observers will not resolve the security problems in the region," Sergei Shamba told Zhang Yesui in the letter.

Sunday 26 October 2008

The leader of Georgia's pro-Russian breakaway Abkhazia region has ordered Abkhazian military forces to retaliate against what he calls all "provocations" from the Georgian side. The warning from Abkhaz separatist leader Sergei Bagapsh is the latest volley in a war of words pitting Abkhazia and another pro-Russian separatist region, South Ossetia, against the Georgian government. An explosion has destroyed a key bridge linking Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia with the rest of the country.

Friday 24 October 2008

Georgian officials and Abkhazian authorities blamed each other for the blast. Residents of Abkhazia's Gali district had used the bridge to reach Georgia's Zugdidi region. Georgian authorities have called the explosion an effort by separatist and Russian officials to cut off Abkhazia and another breakaway Georgian region, South Ossetia, from the rest of the country.
The EU observers’ mission is failing to curb Georgian violations of the peace plan, Russia’s Foreign Minister has said. Sergey Lavrov has accused the European Union of "playing with fire". “The Georgian side is not fulfilling its obligations to return its troops to their military bases,” he said. He added that Georgia “regularly sends special forces and other armed units to the areas bordering South Osetia and Abkhazia”. ”We are especially worried by the fact that the European Union observers pay too little attention to these actions. We should not forget that the European Union acts as a guarantor of the non-use of force against South Osetia and Abkhazia,” he said.

Thursday 23 October 2008

Georgia said Russia deployed 2,000 additional troops into South Ossetia in the past week and was preparing "provocations" in the breakaway territory. "In the past week, Russia increased the number of troops by 2,000, to 7,000 staff," Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told a news conference. The Kremlin has said it would station 7,600 troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia to provide security.
Georgia has not lived up to its commitment to return troops to their bases after the armed conflict over South Ossetia in August, Russia's foreign minister said. "Georgia has not fulfilled its obligations to redeploy troops to their permanent positions of deployment," Sergei Lavrov said. He said Georgia occasionally sent commandos or other military units to areas adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway Georgian republic. "We are worried that European Union monitors have so far been paying little attention to such matters," Lavrov said. Russia's top diplomat also dismissed claims by the Georgian Foreign Ministry that the number of Russian troops stationed in South Ossetia had increased from 2,000 to 7,000. "It is difficult to comment on statements by Georgian representatives because they contain little truth, and, unfortunately, this recent method of throwing out false information has been used regularly," Lavrov said. He said Russia had deployed around 3,700 troops in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia under friendship and cooperation agreements with the two republics.
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA writes that a meeting of U.S. and Russian military top brass has achieved more in the sense of repairing bilateral relations that suffered during the conflict in the Caucasus than several meetings of the two nation’s diplomats. The paper says at the meeting in Helsinki, the Chief of the Russian military’s General Staff General Nikolay Makarov and Admiral Michael Mullen and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed on a plan of normalisation of bilateral military contacts, and there is a hint that they also decided to attempt to return relations between Russia and NATO to the format of the NATO-Russia council by the end of this year.
The US Northrop Grumman Electronic System Corporation’s delegation offers its service to Georgia in the air system improvement. This topic was discussed by the Northrop Grummen representatives at the meeting held in the Defence Ministry. Four-person delegation was received by the First Deputy Defence Minister, Batu Kutelia. The meeting was attended by the Deputy Chief of JS, Brigadier General Davit Nairashvili, Commander of the Air Forces, Col. Zurab Pochkhua and Head of Communication Department - J6, LTC Mamuka Liparteliani. Representatives of the corporation presented its production and introduced technical information to the Georgian side. Technical details of TV, radio, air communications and electronic systems was discussed as well. Prospects of bilateral cooperation between Georgia and Northrop Grumman will be considered during the Bilateral Defence Consultations which is going to be hold in Washington next week.

Wednesday 22 October 2008

International donors have offered $4.5 billion in aid to Georgia. The money is expected to be spent on rebuilding the country’s economy and infrastructure damaged after the conflict between Georgia and Russia last August. The amount is a billion and a half dollars more than the figure initially estimated by the World Bank. On Wednesday, 67 states and financial institutions met in Brussels to discuss the financial aid for Tbilisi. According to the global corruption watchdog Transparency International, this is more than the Georgian government budgeted to spend in 2009. It is also the equivalent of almost $1000 for each of the country's residents.
NATO will continue patrolling Baltic airspace until at least 2011, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff has told the Latvian president. U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen discussed defense and NATO issues with Latvian President Vladis Zatlers, Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins and Defense Minister Vinets Veldr. NATO fighters guard the Baltic nations' airspace and perform the peacetime air defense and air policing function. U.S. Air Force F-15 aircraft based at Lakenheath, England, currently have that mission as part of NATO. "It is a NATO mission that many nations have stepped up to in the past and will continue, certainly through 2011," Mullen said.

Tuesday 21 October 2008

The world doesn’t need a new confrontation with Russia and anyone wanting one is irresponsible. That was the clear message conveyed by French President Sarkozy to the European Parliament as he outlined the outcomes of last week's summit in Brussels. Speaking in Strasbourg, Sarkozy declared, “We do not believe the world needs a crisis between Europe and Russia. It would be irresponsible. We can defend our ideas about the respect for sovereignty, the integrity of Georgia, human rights, the differences that we have, and so on. But it would be irresponsible to create conditions that would lead to a conflict, of which we have no need.”
Russia is being made to pay for the financial blunders made by the US as it fights the effects of the global financial crisis, according to Dmitry Medvedev. The Russian President was speaking at the opening of the Square of Russia in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. "We have an open economy now and we feel the impact of the global economic crisis,” he said. “In fact, we're paying for the blunders made by a number of countries, including the US, since the American market exerts a weighty influence on the international market."
NATO fighters started exercises aimed at policing the airspace over the Baltic countries as part of the Baltic air-policing mission. The Baltic air-policing mission is a NATO air defense Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) in order to guard the airspace over the three Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The current exercise involves up to 15 NATO aircraft from the Baltic States, the U.S., Poland and Denmark. Overall supervision of the exercise will be carried out from a NATO Combined Air Operations Center in Germany.

Monday 20 October 2008

A senior U.S. official has said the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave could be resolved within the next two months. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, in an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Armenian Service correspondent Ruzanna Stepanian, said that "there are hard decisions that have to be made on both sides. If this conflict were easy to resolve, it would have been resolved already."
NOVAYA GAZETA says that the financial crisis made everyone so busy at the EU summit in Brussels that there was no time left to discuss Russia and the aftermath of the Georgia – South Ossetia conflict. European leaders, writes the paper, one after another spoke of change and reform. The most energetic of all was the president of France Nicolas Sarkozy, who wants a totally new ‘market socially-oriented model of capitalism’.

Sunday 19 October 2008

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says a large number of people displaced by violence in Georgia have returned to their villages in the buffer zone around the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva. UN refugee agency spokesman Ron Redmond says monitoring teams report more than 20,000 people have headed home since Russia withdrew its troops from the buffer zone on October eighth. "Out of the 133,000 internally displaced people registered by the Georgians in August, we estimate that more than 78,000 have returned to their homes across Georgia," UN refugee agency spokesman Ron Redmond said. "And, we are carrying out a winterization program for those people who are unable to go home and who are living in various collective centers around the country, getting those buildings into shape for winter."

UK urges tough response to Russia

2009-01-12T06:32:00.000-08:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7584995.stm

Mr Miliband said Russia's declaration had inflamed an already tense situation
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has called on the EU and Nato to initiate "hard-headed engagement" with Russia in response to its actions in Georgia.
In a speech in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, he urged them to bolster their allies, rebalance the energy relationship with Russia and defend international law.
Russia recognised the independence of Georgia's two breakaway regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, on Tuesday.
Moscow's fellow G8 members have condemned its actions in Georgia.
"We, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom, condemn the action of our fellow G8 member," the group of seven of the world's leading industrialised nations said in a joint statement.
"We deplore Russia's excessive use of military force in Georgia and its continued occupation of parts of Georgia."
Ukraine's President Victor Yushchenko has said his country is a hostage in a war waged by Russia against countries in the old Soviet bloc.
Russia was, is and will continue to be the last country in the world that would want a repeat of the Cold War
Dmitry PeskovRussian government spokesman
Meeting Russia's 'Number One'
Testing for a new 'Cold War'
Jubilation and dismay in Georgia
He told Mr Miliband that the brief conflict between Georgia and Russia earlier this month had exposed serious weaknesses in the powers of the UN and other international bodies.
He called for Ukraine's defences to be strengthened and said his country would consider increasing the amount of money Russia pays for the lease of the port of Sevastopol, where it stations its Black Sea Fleet.
"When we allow someone to ignore the fundamental right of territorial integrity, we put into doubt the independence or existence of any country, any nation," he said.
Fighting between Russia and Georgia began on 7 August after the Georgian military tried to retake its Russian-backed breakaway province of South Ossetia by force.
Russian forces subsequently launched a counter-attack and the conflict ended with the ejection of Georgian troops from both South Ossetia and Abkhazia and an EU-brokered ceasefire.
Russia 'unreconciled'
After holding talks with President Yushchenko, Mr Miliband told a group of students in Kiev that the Georgia crisis had "provided a rude awakening".
David Miliband said Russia must not start a new Cold War
Mr Miliband said Moscow's "unilateral attempt to redraw the map marks a moment of real significance".
Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, he said, had a "big responsibility not to start" a new Cold War.
The foreign secretary said the response of the EU and Nato to such "aggression" should be one of "hard-headed engagement".
"That means bolstering our allies, rebalancing the energy relationship with Russia, defending the rules of international institutions, and renewing efforts to tackle 'unresolved conflicts'," he explained.
Mr Miliband again rejected calls for Russia to be expelled from the G8, but did suggest the EU and Nato needed to review relations with it.
He also reiterated the British government's support for Ukraine's application for full Nato membership.
European warnings
The Russian government later responded to Mr Miliband's criticism by saying Moscow saw no threat of a new Cold War.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia had been taking "measures of precaution" against Nato warships in the Black Sea, but hoped to avoid confrontation.
SOUTH OSSETIA & ABKHAZIA

South Ossetia
Population: About 70,000 (before recent conflict)
Capital: Tskhinvali
President: Eduard Kokoity
Abkhazia
Population: About 250,000 (2003)
Capital: Sukhumi
President: Sergei Bagapsh
Profile: South Ossetia
Profile: Abkhazia
Q&A: Conflict in Georgia
"I wouldn't agree that we really have a threat of a new Cold War. Russia was, is and will continue to be the last country in the world that would want a repeat of the Cold War," Dmitry Peskov said.
China meanwhile addressed the crisis for the first time by expressing "concern" about developments in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and urging dialogue.
The comments came as Chinese President Hu Jintao met President Medvedev in Tajikistan ahead of a regional summit.
In other developments
Georgia moved to reduce its diplomatic presence in Moscow, confirming its ambassador would not return
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the continued presence of Russian forces in Georgia proper was a grave ceasefire violation. She also agreed to send up to 15 military observers to Georgia as part of an OSCE mission
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would support the presence of more international monitors in the buffer zones
French President Nicolas Sarkozy described Moscow's decision as an unacceptable attempt to change borders, and said any settlement had to be based on international law, dialogue and respect for Georgia's territorial integrity
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called Russia an "international outlaw" and said the real worry was not a new Cold War but a "hot" one, suggesting that another Russian objective might now be Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking territory of Crimea.
Preventing 'catastrophe'
On Tuesday, Mr Medvedev said Moscow had been obliged to recognise the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia following the "genocide" started by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in South Ossetia in August.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Miliband should keep his nose out of it unless he wants it bloodied by the Russians
Di, London
Send us your comments
"The most important thing was to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe," he told the BBC in an interview in the Russian city of Sochi.
Georgia said Russia was seeking to "change Europe's borders by force".
Most of Russia's forces pulled out of the rest of Georgia last Friday but it maintains a presence both within the two rebel regions and in buffer zones imposed round their boundaries.
Mr Medvedev has blamed Georgia for failing to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the crisis.

Грузия, Осетия, Россия - война, конфликт - последние новости-russia,osetia,georgia - war,latest news

2009-01-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.gruzianews.ru/

Georgia-Russia war intensifies

2009-01-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

The war between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia appears to be widening, with reports of a fresh Russian bombardment of a military base and radar installation near the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

"There were two bombings. One at the Kojori military base and another on Mount Makhata. As far as I know there are no casualties," a Georgian spokesman told the Reuters news agency early on Monday.

Kojori is about 10km from Tbilisi and the military base is home to a special forces battalion.

And at Mount Makhata, about 5km from Tbilisi, a bomb struck an air traffic control centre.

The Georgian government also said Russian aircraft had bombed a military airfield near Tbilisi's main civilian airport on Sunday.

Earlier, Utiashvili said the strategic Georgian town of Gori had come under "massive" attack from Russian artillery and aircraft while tank-led ground forces were preparing for an assault.

"There was massive bombing of Gori all evening and now we are getting reports of an imminent attack by Russian tanks," he said.

"Gori is being bombed massively from the air and from artillery as well," he added.

Temur Yakobashvili, a Georgian interior ministry spokesman, said Russian tanks had tried to cross from South Ossetia into Gori but were turned back by Georgian forces.

Rapid evacuation

Al Jazeera's Jonnah Hull, reporting from Gori, said thousands of Georgians had rapidly evacuated the town at the first mention of a possible full scale Russian invasion.

"There was massive bombing of Gori all evening and now we are getting reports of an imminent attack by Russian tanks"

Shota Utiashvili,
Georgia interior ministry

But he could not confirm if an invasion was imminent and said there had been no official word from the Georgian government on the attack.

About 65km northwest of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, Gori is just south of the border with South Ossetia, which has seen fierce fighting between Russian and Georgian forces in the last few days.

It is the largest Georgian town, about 50,000 in population, that sits close to the region and an important strategic link between eastern and western Georgia.

Utiashvili said Russian troops were preparing for a ground assault.

They "are not there yet but it looks like they are getting ready for it," he said, adding that Georgian forces were returning fire on Russian positions.

Doubts over ceasefire

The reported attack came after Georgia had offered a limited ceasefire in South Ossetia on Sunday for the passage of humanitarian aid and said it had pulled its troops back across the border.

It also offered immediate talks with Russia for a full ceasefire but did not get an official response.

Map

Key locations in the conflict

"Georgia expresses its readiness to immediately start negotiations with the Russian Federation on a ceasefire and termination of hostilities," the Georgian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday, adding that it had notified Russia's envoy to Tbilisi.

But Russia said Georgian troops were continuing their attacks and fended off a wave of international calls to observe the Georgian so-called ceasefire, saying it must first be assured that Georgian troops had indeed pulled back from South Ossetia.

Alexander Darchiev, Russia's charge d'affairs in Washington, said Georgian soldiers were "not withdrawing but regrouping, including heavy armour and increased attacks on Tskhinvali".

The US military began flying 2,000 Georgian troops home from Iraq after Georgia recalled them, even while calling for a truce.

Thousands of Georgians gathered in the capital Tbilisi on Sunday to protest against Russia's invasion into South Ossetia, marching to the Russian embassy and United Nations offices and calling for action from the UN and EU to stop Russia.

Also on Sunday, Russia claimed to have sunk a Georgian boat that it said was trying to attack Russian vessels in the Black Sea.

The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted a Russian defence ministry spokesman as saying that Georgian missile boats twice tried to attack Russian ships, which fired back and sank one of the Georgian vessels.

Second front fears

Meanwhile, Georgia said thousands of Russian troops arrived on Sunday in Abkhazia - another breakaway region from Georgia – amid fears of a second front opening as the separatist government there declared its own state of war.

Russia says at least 2,000 people have been killed in South Ossetia [AFP]

Georgian officials said Russia had begun an operation to storm the Georgian-controlled Kodori gorge in Abkhazia.

But Russia's armed forces on Sunday denied plans to expand their conflict with Georgia into the Abkhazia region.

"We do not plan to escalate the conflict in this region," Anatoly Nogovitsyn, an army spokesman, said in televised remarks, referring to Abkhazia.

In Russia, the number of Ossetian refugees continued to grow.

The Red Cross said the unrest had forced at least 40,000 people from their homes and UN officials said at least 1,000 people had crossed the border into the Russian province of North Ossetia since the war began in South Ossetia.

Three days of fighting have left sections of South Ossetia's capital Tskhinvali in ruins and an undetermined number of fighters and civilians dead.

Grigory Karasin, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said more than 2,000 people had been killed in South Ossetia since Friday, most of them Ossetians, but the figure could not be independently confirmed.

War of words

At the United Nations on Sunday, the Russian and American ambassadors were having a war of their own – exchanging sharp remarks over the escalating conflict.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador, accused Moscow of seeking "regime change" in Georgia and resisting attempts to make peace after days of deadly fighting.

The Red Cross says more than 40,000 people have fled their homes [AFP]

"Is your government's objective regime change in Georgia, the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Georgia?" Khalilzad asked Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador.

Churkin said "regime change is an American expression. We do not use such an expression".

But he added: "But sometimes there are occasions, and we know from history, that there are different leaders who come to power, either democratically or semi-democratically, and they become an obstacle."

South Ossetia and Abkhazia split away from Georgia after fighting in the early 1990s and have run their own affairs without international recognition.

The two separatist provinces have close ties with Moscow, while Georgia has deeply angered Russia by wanting to join Nato.

Georgia, whose troops have been trained by American soldiers, began an offensive to regain control over South Ossetia overnight on Friday, launching heavy rocket and artillery fire and air strikes that pounded the regional capital Tskhinvali. Georgia says it was responding to attacks by separatists.

In response, Russia launched artillery shelling and air attacks on Georgian troops and entered South Ossetia to repel Georgia's attempt to retake the province

Putin: “War Has Started” with Georgia

2009-01-10T04:33:00.000-08:00

Posted by Justin Logan
Some unfortunate “he said/he said” violence in the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia looks likely to escalate into full-blown war. Unsurprisingly, Eduard Kokoity, the leader of the province, and the Russian prime minister and president are blaming the Georgians for starting it. The Georgians are blaming the Russians for starting it. Washington is several thousand miles away, so it’s hard to tell from here.
What’s not hard to tell, however, is how dangerous the situation is. Recall that President Bush made a full-court press to get Georgia (and Ukraine) onto Membership Action Plans at the recent NATO summit in Bucharest. In a heroic move, the Germans spiked the deal, saving us from ourselves. But both Barack Obama and John McCain favor Georgian accession into NATO — and with it, a full-on security commitments as Article V of the NATO charter makes clear.
Here’s Barack Obama’s absurd statement on the question from last month:
As I stated in April this year, I am committed to upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia. This commitment has long been a fundamental building block of U.S. policy, and it will not change under the Obama administration. I also affirm Georgia’s right to pursue NATO membership. This aspiration in no way threatens the legitimate defense interests of Georgia’s neighbors.
I’m sure the Russians are interested to learn that Obama considers himself an expert on “the legitimate defense interests” of their country. I wonder what the Kremlin thinks are the legitimate defense interests of the United States.
Unfortunately, of course, McCain is hardly a paragon of good sense on the question. He has been fairly pawing at the ground for years to get a run at Russia, and this opportunity seems as good as any.
Also of note is the fact that McCain’s chief foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, was a paid lobbyist for Georgia until March of this year — even acting simultaneously as McCain’s chief adviser on foreign policy while he was being paid by the Georgians. A man of many hats, Scheunemann apparently could separate out (a) being paid by the Georgians to lobby for them, (b) advising McCain on foreign policy (including, presumably, U.S.-Georgia relations), while (c) lobbying McCain’s Senate staff on behalf of Tbilisi.
The other point is how robust U.S. support for Georgian NATO membership may have created a moral hazard situation where the Georgians may have convinced themselves — any official urgings from the U.S. administration aside — that they would have U.S. backing should any conflict break out.
For any U.S. president, current or future, to give so much as a second’s thought of committing American blood and treasure to the defense of a tiny Caucasian country that few Americans could so much as point to on a map is ridiculous and unforgivably reckless. It would raise the prospect of restarting the Cold War, and completely poisoning our relations with a country that happens to possess both a large quantity of nuclear weapons and a permanent spot on the UN Security Council.
We sometimes joke that the worst ideas in Washington are bipartisan. Here’s another data point to support that thesis.
Update: Commentary magazine’s Gordon G. Chang is now calling for President Bush to make clear, publicly, to Prime Minister Putin that the United States “is prepared to cut off diplomatic relations, end trade, and use military force to protect this young democracy.”

Bush Has Georgia's Back

2009-01-09T07:26:00.000-08:00

Thinking about the hostilities in Georgia, it's instructive to return to the NATO Summit in Bucharest in April.

If you recall, Bush, along with his Russian-expert Secretary of State, descended on the member heads-of-state driving hard for the alliance to offer membership to both Georgia and Ukraine. In the top image, you can see Bush yukking it up with pre-conference sidekick, Georgian President Saakashvili.

Thankfully the Europeans, led by Germany and France, pushed back and rebuffed Bush. Otherwise, we could well be looking at the U.S. being forced to go to war with Russia this week in defense of a NATO ally -- not to mention interjecting ourselves in an ethnic and separatist conflict that is arguably far beyond our scope of interest.

What Bush's Georgian cheerleading and advocacy (not to mention, McCain's even more aggressive, compromised and meddling version) can be credited with, however, is emboldening Mikheil Saakashvili to provoke Russia in the first place, accounting for this contrast, between giggles in Bucharest, and Saakashvili hitting the dirt in Gori during a Russian airstrike.

slide show: Troops, Rubble and Grief in Georgia (NYT)

For more of the visual, visit BAGnewsNotes.com.

(image 1: Gerald Herbert/AP. April 3, 2008. Bucharest, Romania. image 2: Joao Silva for The New York Times. Gori, Georgia)

Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia

2009-01-09T07:16:00.000-08:00

Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia

Mikheil Saakashvili was elected President of Georgia in January 2004, following Georgia’s Rose Revolution. He had previously served as Chairman of the Sakrebulo (City Council) of Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, from 2002 to 2004. President Saakashvili first entered politics in 1995 when he was elected to Parliament, where he became Chairman of the Committee of Legal Issues, Rule of Law and Administrative Reforms.

In 1997, the Georgian mass media and NGOs recognized President Saakashvili as “Man of the Year.” In January 2000, he was elected Vice President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, and that same year was head of the Georgian delegation to that body. In October, 2000, he was appointed Minister of Justice of Georgia, but in 2001 he resigned from the post in protest. In 2001, he formed and became leader of Georgia’s biggest opposition political party, “United National Movement.”

President Saakashvili studied in Ukraine and the United States, and at different times worked at the Norwegian Institute of Human Rights, the Human Rights Protection State Committee of Georgia, and a large law firm in New York.

iakubovich protiv pravitelstva!

2009-01-09T07:14:00.001-08:00

War-georgia vs russia! bozi rusebi!

2009-01-09T07:04:00.000-08:00

Alexander Dugin anout war

2009-01-09T02:45:00.000-08:00

Russian President Explains Georgia Withdrawal

2009-01-08T15:34:00.001-08:00

Nicolas Sarkozy and Mikhail Saakashvili

2009-01-08T15:29:00.000-08:00

BBC: Sarkozy and Medvedev comments on ceasefire.

2009-01-08T15:28:00.001-08:00

Political Science 101: The Georgian-Russian War

2009-01-08T15:22:00.001-08:00

Ossetia, Georgia and Russia: war!

2009-01-08T15:20:00.001-08:00

U.S. may have staged Georgian conflict - Putin

2009-01-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

In an interview with CNN Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict may have been staged to secure a victory for one of the presidential candidates in the U.S. He says preliminary reports show that U.S. citizens may have been present in the combat zone.

"We have serious reasons to believe that American citizens were right at the heart of the military action. This would have implications for American domestic policy. If this is confirmed, we will have grounds to suspect that somebody in the U.S. has created this conflict to aggravate the situation and create a competitive advantage for one of the presidential candidates".

Russia’s Prime Minister also commented on the media coverage of the recent events.

"As far as the perception of these events by the general public goes, it depends not only on politicians, but also on how artful they are in controlling the mass media. And our American colleagues do this much better than we do and there's a lot we can learn from them".

Putin stressed that Russia did not attack and cannot be portrayed as an aggressor.

"We didn’t attack anyone, we were attacked and therefore we need guarantees that we won’t be attacked again, and that our citizens won't be killed. They are trying to present us as aggressors".

The Prime Minister has given a detailed chronology of the events between August 7 and 10.

"On 7 August, at 14:42, the Georgian peacekeepers left the headquarters of the peacekeeping forces under the pretext that they'd received orders from their commanders to leave their posts, and they never returned.

One hour later, heavy artillery shelling began.

At 22:35 a massive bombardment of Tsklhinval started. At 22:50 the transfer of Georgian ground troops started to the combat area. At the same time Georgian field hospitals were set up.

And at 23:30 the Brigadeer General commanding the Georgian peacekeeping forces announced that Georgia has declared a war against South Ossetia. They announced this publicly, looking straight into the TV cameras.

At that point we tried to contact the Georgian leadership, but everyone refused to talk to us.

At 12:45 AM on the 8th of August the Georgian commander repeated his statement. So who attacked whom?"

The former Russian president reiterated that the country has ‘no intention of attacking anyone, or of fighting a war with anyone’.

"For eight years while I was President I often heard one and the same question – what place does Russia think it should occupy in the world? We are a peace-loving state and want to co-operate with all our neighbours and other states. But if someone thinks they can just come in and kill us, and that our place is in the cemetery, these people should think of the consequences of such policies".

[Source: Russia Today, Moscow, 28Aug08]

CNN interview with PM Vladimir Putin

2009-01-08T14:27:00.001-08:00

medvedevs report

2009-01-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

Prelude to war

2009-01-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

In April 2008, Georgia accused Russia of shooting down a Georgian spy plane flying over Abkhazia. Russia denied involvement. Also Georgian interior ministry officials showed the BBC video footage of Russian troops deploying heavy military hardware in the breakaway region of Abkhazia and said that "it proved the Russians were a fighting force, not just peacekeepers." Russia denied the accusations.[88]

At 8:05 a.m. on 1 August two roadside bombs hit a Georgian police vehicle on a detour road connecting Georgian-populated villages near the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali.[89] The five policemen were wounded[90] (six according to the secondary sources [91][92]). Late in the evening, intense fighting began between Georgian troops and the forces of South Ossetia. Georgia claimed that South Ossetian separatists[93] had shelled Georgian villages in violation of a ceasefire. South Ossetia denied provoking the conflict. A South Ossetian militiaman was killed by sniper located in a Georgian police post.[94] The Russian peacekeeping command reported that snipers killed at least three people in Tskhinvali around 9 p.m. The command also reported that Tskhinvali came under mortar fire from the Georgian villages of Ergneti and Zemo Nikozi.[95] At 11 p.m. on 1 August South Ossetian side (information from the republican hospital in Tskhinvali) said that six people killed (Roin Doguzov, 22 years old; Garick Bestaev, 38 years old; Anatoliy Kabisov, 45 years old; Vyacheslav Dudaev, 38 years old, Dudick Guchmazov, 40 years old, and Djioev) and seven injured.[96]

On 2 August the South Ossetian side[who?] said that shelling and shooting resumed overnight. Mamuka Kurashvili, a Georgian Defense Ministry official in charge of overseeing peacekeeping operations, said that the Georgian side had opened fire in response to shelling of Georgian villages. Six civilians and one Georgian policeman were injured as a result of shelling of the Georgian villages of Zemo Nikozi, Kvemo Nikozi, Nuli and Ergneti, the Georgian Interior Ministry said.[95] The South Ossetian side said that another two people, including a Russian soldier from the Russian North Ossetian peacekeeping battalion, were killed in fighting on August 2, bringing the toll to six people killed and about 15 injured as a result of intense shooting by the Georgian side directed towards Tskhinvali and nearby Ossetian villages late on August 1 and overnight on August 2.[97][98]
The Russian military exercise Caucasus Frontier 2008, held almost concurrently with the joint US-Georgian Immediate Response 2008 exercise, ended on 2 August, after roughly one month of operations.[99][100]
2008 South Ossetia war
Articles

Background
Timeline
Disinformation campaign
International reaction
Protests
Humanitarian response
International recognition of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia
Related topics

2008 Georgia–Russia crisis
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On 5 August, Russian ambassador-at-large Yuri Popov warned that Russia would intervene in the event of military conflict.[101][102] Dmitry Medoyev declared from Moscow that volunteers were already arriving, primarily "from North Ossetia", in the Republic of South Ossetia to offer help in the event of Georgian aggression.[103][104]

On 6 August South Ossetia and Georgia failed to agree on the format of talks. South Ossetian side had proposed holding a JCC session with the participation of Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and Russia’s North Ossetian negotiators in Tskhinvali on 9 August. Tbilisi has consistently refused to participate in the quadripartite JCC talks.[105]
According to the eyewitness account of a Nezavisimaya gazeta correspondent sporadic heavy shelling of Tskhinvali by Georgian military started on August 6. The weapons used by Georgians, the eyewitness claims, were mortars, artillery and sniper rifles. South Ossetian military officials speculated that the Georgian army was preparing for a full-scale attack on the city. Russian correspondents report that the city was under artillery and mortar fire that continued all night long.

Russian Soldier talk

2009-01-08T13:59:00.001-08:00

video for Georgia

2009-01-08T13:58:00.001-08:00

RUSSIAN SOLDIERS TALKING TO GEORGIAN PEOPLE

2009-01-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

TPMtv: Tuff Talk about Georgia-Russian war

2009-01-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

War pictures

2009-01-08T13:53:00.000-08:00

13-14 აგვისტო

2009-01-08T13:44:00.001-08:00

13 აგვისტო

ლამის ნახევარი ევროპის პრეზიდენტებმა საქართველოში მოიყარონ თავი. ხუთი თუ ექვსი ქვეყნის პრეზიდენტი თბილისშია, მაგრამ რად გინდა? - საქართველოს ქალაქები და სოფლები ისევ ცეცხლის ალშია გახვეული.

უკვე ზემო აფხაზეთსაც რუსული ჯარი აკონტროლებს.

თბილისიდან გორისკენ მიმავალი გზა საპატრულო პოლიციამ გადაკეტა, გორში მოსახლეობა შველას ითხოვს.

ისევ ვრცელდება ინფორმაცია, რომ რუსი თბილისში შემოსვლას გეგმავს, თუმცა, მალევე გადაუხვიეს ორჭოსანთან.

რუსები და სეპარატისტები გორი-სამთავისის ეპარქიას არბევენ.

ხაშურიდან ბიძაშვილმა დამირეკა, რუსებმა ბორჯომის ტყეებში თვითმფრინავებიდან რაღაცები ჩამოყარეს და ცეცხლი გაჩნდაო. ხანძრის შესახებ ოფიციალური განცხადებები არ კეთდება, ამიტომაც მგონია, რომ ნინომ მორიგი ჭორი მამცნო (სამწუხაროდ, მეორე დღეს ეს დადასტურდა).

გორთან ახლოს, ტრასაზე, დასავლეთ საქართველოსკენ მიმავალი მიკროავტობუსი გააჩერეს ოსმა სეპარატისტებმა, მგზავრები გაძარცვეს, მანქანა კი 20-ოდე წლის ტყიბულელ გოგოსთან ერთად გაიტაცეს.

სვანეთიდან ისევ მირეკავენ. ამჯერად ზურა ახერხებს დაკავშირებას. მთელი ხაიში, ჭუბერის უღელტეხილი და სვანეთამდე მომავალი გზები რუსული ჯარით არის გადახერგილიო: "«გამგეობა თუ გუბერნატორი ვერაფერს აკეთებენ. აქ ჯერ სიმშვიდეა, მაგრამ ამ ვითარებას დიდხანს ვერ შევეგუებით და რუსებსაც სწორედ ეს უნდათ. იქნებ საერთაშორისო დამკვირვებლები და ტელევიზიები სვანეთშიც ამოვიდნენ. რუსულ ჩექმას სვანეთში არაფერი ესაქმება. ახალგაზრდებს ძლივს ვაკავებთ, რომ შეტაკება არ დაიწყოს». ამ ამბავსაც «ინტერპრესნიუსს» ვატყობინებ. სააგენტოს ხელმძღვანელობა ცდილობს დაუკავშირდეს შინაგან საქმეთა სამინისტროს და სვანეთში მოსალოდნელი საფრთხე ამცნოს. მოგვიანებით ზურა ისევ მირეკავს. ამბობს, რომ ქვემო სვანეთიდან 6 ერთეული რუსული სამხედრო მანქანა გავიდა. თუმცა, რუსული ჯარი და ტექნიკა კვლავ რჩება ხაიშიდან მესტიისკენ მიმავალ გზაზე, მათ შორის ცენტრალურ ხიდზე. მოსახლეობას დაბის თავკაცების განკარგულებით ყველა სავაჭრო ობიექტი დაუხურავს, რომ ალკოჰოლური სასმელები არ გაიყიდოს, თორემ პროვოკაცია და უბედურება არ აგვცდებაო. სვანებს რამდენიმე რუსი ოკუპანტი ხაიშის წმინდა გიორგის სახელობის ეკლესიის გვერდით მდებარე ძველისძველ სასაფლაოზე გაუყვანიათ, აქ 1942 წელს ჩამოვარდნილი რუსი სამხედრო მფრინავის საფლავიც არის. თუ ვითარების გამწვავებას დაუშვებთ, პირობას გაძლევთ, აქ ერთადერთი რუსის საფლავი აღარ იქნებაო. შეშინებიათ რუს ჯარისკაცებს, - რას ამბობთ, რა გამწვავება, ერთი სული გვაქვს, აქედან როდის გავალთ, გვითხრეს, აფხაზეთში სწავლებებზე მიდიხართ და ომში ამოგვაყოფინეს თავიო.

14 აგვისტო

თბილისში აეროპორტთან ახლოს კარვების ქალაქი შენდება.

ქვაზე გორელი ციცაგებისა და საბაშვილების ოჯახები ჩამომსხდარან. პატარა გოგონას პური ჩაუბღუჯავს ხელში და შეშინებული თვალებით იყურება... 9 წლის გვანცა და 17 წლის ნინო შინ წამოვიყვანე. არ შემეძლო მათი იმ მტვერსა და სიცხეში დატოვება. დედების ცრემლიანი, მაგრამ მაინც გახარებული თვალები გვაცილებენ.

სამარშრუტო ტაქსიში გვანცა კალთაში მიზის, მკერდზე ისე მეკვრის, თითქოს ერთი საათის წინ კი არა, დიდი ხნის წინ გამეცნოს. უკანა სკამზე ორი ახალგაზრდა ლაპარაკობს. თურმე ორივე გუშინ გორის გზატკეცილიდან ოსების გატაცებულ მიკროავტობუსში იჯდა. იმ გოგოს მეზობლები ყოფილან, ოსებმა რომ გაიტაცეს. საწყალ გოგოს დაურეკავს სახლში, ორიოდე წუთით მიუციათ გამტაცებლებს ოჯახთან დალაპარაკების საშუალება. უთქვამს, სადღაც სარდაფში ვარ და ჩემთან კიდევ 60 ქართველი ქალიაო. ახალგაზრდებს ჩემი ტელეფონის ნომერს ვაძლევ და ვთხოვ, თუ რამე ახალს გაიგებენ, შემატყობინონ.

გვანცასა და ნინოს სახლში ვტოვებ და ღუდუშაურის სახელობის ეროვნულ სამედიცინო ცენტრში მივდივარ. ექიმები ამბობენ, რომ ძირითადად ყუმბარებისგან დაჭრილი პაციენტები ჰყავთ. საჰაერო დაბომბვა რომ არ ყოფილიყო, ჩვენს ბიჭებს წინ ვერავინ დაუდგებოდაო.

ჯემალ ჯიქიძე: «24 საათის განმავლობაში ვაკეთებდით ოპერაციებს. მინდა შემთხვევით ვისარგებლო და მადლობა ვუთხრა გორის ჰოსპიტლის თანამშრომლებს. ფაქტობრივად, წინა ხაზზე იყვნენ და ძალიან დიდ საქმეს აკეთებდნენ».

გივი ჯიქია: - «ექიმებს, ექთანებს ვეხვეწებოდით, წადით, დაისვენეთ-მეთქი, მაგრამ...»

ვიცი, რომ ბატონი გივი და ჯემალი დაჭრილ რუს მფრინავებსაც მკურნალობენ.

- ბატონო გივი, რუსი მფრინავებისთვის არ გიკითხავთ, რატომ მოვიდნენ ჩვენი მიწის დასაბომბად?

- ბრძანებას ვასრულებდითო. გვარიანი შეშინებული ჩანან, ხატები მოაგროვეს და ბალიშის ქვეშ აქვთ შექუჩებული. ღმერთის და ხატის თუ სწამთ, უდანაშაულო ხალხს როგორ ხოცავენ?

- ბატონო ჯემალ, თქვენ გადაარჩინეთ ებრაელი ჟურნალისტი?

- გულმკერდის ქირურგმა, გია ლურსმანაშვილმა გადაარჩიIნა. ძალიან მძიმედ იყო... ერთი დღე გაატარა ჩვენთან. იმ დღეს 12 პაციენტი შემოგვიყვანეს და რვა მყისვე საოპერაციოში შევიყვანეთ. ებრაელი ექიმები რომ ჩამოვიდნენ, გაუკვირდათ, ჩვენ ასეთ ოპერაციებს აღარ ვაკეთებთ, რადგან მიგვაჩნია, რომ პაციენტი უიმედოაო...

შინ დაღლილი ვბრუნდები. ბავშვებს სძინავთ. შუაღამისას გვანცა ტირილით მაღვიძებს, ახლა დაგვბომბავენო. სადღაც, შორს თვითმფრინავის ხმა ისმის. გვანცას გულში ვიკრავ და ვამშვიდებ...

12 აგვისტო

2009-01-08T13:41:00.001-08:00

გერმანიიდან თაკო მეხმიანება. გუშინ მიუნხენში საპროტესტო გამოსვლები მოუწყვიათ. უხარია, ჩვენი აქცია რამდენიმე გერმანულმა ტელეარხმა გააშუქაო.

უცხოეთიდან სკაიპით შეტყობინება მომდის: «თუ Gღმერთი არ იცავს ქალაქს, ამაოდ ირჯებიან გუშაგნი», ძალიან გთხოვთ ყველამ ერთად ვილოცოთ მთელი გულით. ლოცვაზე მეტად ვერაფერი გვიშველის. ღმერთი ყოვლისშემძლეა და ლოცვა გადაგვარჩენს. თუ ხვალ, პირველ საათზე, ანუ თბილისის დროით სამ საათზე, მთელი გულით ვილოცებთ, ღმერთი შეისმენს ჩვენს ვედრებას. ვადიდოთ ღმერთი და ვთხოვოთ გადარჩენა. არ დაგვავიწყდეს, ხვალ პირველ საათზე... ეს შეტყობინება ყველას გაუგზავნეთ».

გორი კიდევ ერთხელ დაიბომბა და ჰოლანდიელი ჟურნალისტი დაიღუპა.

რიკოთის უღელტეხილზეც ჩამოყარეს ბომბებიო, - მატყობინებენ სოფლიდან. მე «ინტერპრესნიუსს» ვუკავშირდები და მომხდარის შესახებ ვამცნობ. ამბობენ, რომ რიკოთის ტყეში იარაღით სავსე სამხედრო მანქანებია გადამალული და რუსი იმას დაეძებს, იმიტომაც ბომბავს ტყეებსო.

აგარაში მიკროავტობუსი აფეთქდა, ხაშურიდან დამირეკეს, ათი კაცი დაიღუპაო.

საქართველოში ჯოჯოხეთი დაატრიალეს რუსებმა. დასავლეთის ქვეყნები კი მხოლოდ შეშფოთებას გამოთქვამენ. სულხან-საბას რა გამოუტანია მაგათი აღშფოთება-შეშფოთებიდან, ჩვენ რომ გვარგოს რამე.

ძმა მოუკლეს

2009-01-08T13:38:00.001-08:00

Whatever the sovereign and ethnic claims and counter-claims, Russia's weekend invasion of the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia is a tragedy. It is also ironic that the conflict coincides with the Olympics, where US President George W. Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin enjoyed the opening spectacle.

More than 2000 people might already be dead, and there are fears of all-out war between Russia and Georgia. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili declared a "state of war" after Moscow bombarded from the air and sent in tanks and troops.

Tolstoy wrote about ethnic conflicts two centuries ago at the eastern edge of the Russian empire. The present fighting has been brewing since the early 1990s. Georgia is a pro-Western democracy, but many of those who live in separatist South Ossetia carry Russian passports. Russia claims that Georgia has sought to pacify them. Russian diplomacy is opaque and unpredictable, and it is difficult to predict what will happen next.

A joint European-US delegation is hoping to broker a ceasefire. The United Nations has failed to agree on an immediate ceasefire, hobbled by Moscow's objections. Indeed, the conflict could be a litmus test for the UN -- especially its protocols. It was tardy in the Balkans and must improve its performance this time. It would be a significant success if it got the sides to a conference table as soon as possible.

ომის დღიურები

2009-01-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

11 აგვისტო

...ღამის პირველი საათი იქნებოდა, ჩემი ძმა რომ დაბრუნდა. ძაღლიც სიხარულით შეხვდა პატრონს. თუმცა, ფეხსაცმელებსა და ტანსაცმელზე დასუნა თუ არა, გველნაკბენივით უკან გადახტა, დაწვა, თავი თათებზე დადო და ყმუილი დაიწყო. იმედა მიუხვდა ძაღლს წუხილის მიზეზს, - ადამიანის სისხლის სუნი იგრძნო და ამიტომ მოიქცა ასე. დაჭრილები რომ გამომყავდა, ვიწმენდდი ტანსაცმელს, მაგრამ როგორც ჩანს, სუნი მაინც დამრჩაო. იმედას მეტი არაფერი უთქვამს. კარგა ხანს იჯდა სავარძელში გახევებული და ერთ წერტილს მისჩერებოდა. მისი სამხედრო ფორმა ტირილით გავრეცხე. ვტიროდი მათ გამო, ვისაც ოჯახში დაბრუნება არ ეღირსა. იმედა გამთენიისას გავიდა სახლიდან. ბაზაში ვიქნები, არ შეგეშინდესო, დამაიმედა. ერთი წუთითაც არ მძინებია. ფიქრებში მობორიალეს დამათენდა თავზე. დროდადრო აივანზე გასული ვამჩნევდი, რომ ჩემსავით ბევრს არ ეძინა. ბინებში თითქმის მთელ ღამეს ენთო ნათურები. დილის 7 საათზე დედაჩემმა დამირეკა. ვეუბნები, რომ იმედა შინ არის. ომში მის ყოფნის ამბავს ისევ ვუმალავ. დედა საშინელ ამბებს მიყვება: «წუხელ ხუნევში (ხარაგაულის რაიონის სოფელია, ესაზღვრება საჩხერის რაიონს) ომიდან წამოსული ჯარისკაცები მოვიდნენ. ტყე-ტყე გადმოსულან. რუსები მოგვდევდნენო. იარაღი რიკოთთან ახლოს, ტყეში დაუმალავთ. სამოქალაქო ტანსაცმელს გვთხოვდნენ. მთელი სოფელი ფეხზე იდგა. ჩვენი ბიჭების ტანსაცმელი ჩავაცვით, დავაპურეთ. შეშინებულებს ჭამაც კი უჭირდათ. ერთმა თქვა, ლუკმა ყელში არ გადამდის, ეს რა დღეში ჩავცვივდითო. უკან დახევის გამო რცხვენოდათ. ამბობდნენ, მეთაურებმა ჯარისკაცები მიატოვესო. ომის შეწყვეტის თაობაზე მთავარსარდლის ბრძანება რომ გაიცა, მეთაურებმა გამოგვიცხადეს, აბა, თავს უშველეთ, თუ გინდათ, იარაღი ჩაგვაბარეთ და ისე წადითო. თუ მანამდე მტერთან დანებებას სიკვდილი გვერჩივნა, მეთაურების განცხადებამ წაგვახდინაო. ბიჭების ერთმა ნაწილმა მეთაურებს აგინა თურმე. ენა არავის შემოუბრუნებია მათთვის, ან სად ეცალათ მაგისთვის, მანქანებში ჩასხდნენ და წავიდნენ. ჩვენც გამოვიქეცით, ზოგიერთები დარჩნენ. გორის რაიონის სოფლებთან, ძირითადად, შინდისთან რუსებმა სასაკლაო მოგვიწყვესო.

მერე ჯარისკაცებმა ვიღაცას დაურეკეს, ერთ-ერთს ნათესავმა მოაკითხა მანქანით და ყველა წაიყვანა. პირველად რომ გამოჩნდნენ, შვიდნი იყვნენ. მოგვიანებით სოფლის ბიჭებმა შეამჩნიეს, რომ ტყეში სინათლე ბჟუტავდა. მივხვდით, ჯარისკაცები იქნებოდნენ, წავიდნენ, გამოიყვანეს და იმათაც ვუპატრონეთ. წუხელ მთელი ღამის განმავლობაში ხან სად გამოჩნდებოდნენ თავგზაარეული ჯარისკაცები და ხან სად».

დედაჩემის მონათხრობმა დამამუნჯა. ჩუმად ვიჯექი კარგა ხანს. მერე უფროს ძმას დავურეკე. რაც ომი დაიწყო, სულ სამსახურშია. 24 საათის განმავლობაში პატრულირებენ რიკოთიდან ქუთაისის მიმართულებით ტრასაზე. წუხს, გამოქცეული ჯარისკაცები ტყეებსა და ხევებში იარაღს ყრიან და თუ მოსახლეობას ჩაუვარდა ხელთ, შესაძლოა, ცუდი ამბები დატრიალდესო. ხალხს აფრთხილებენ, თუ სადმე იარაღს იპოვიან, პოლიციას ჩააბარონ. ვითომ გამოიჩენს ხალხი კეთილგონიერებას?

გამთენიისას თბილისი დაბომბეს. კოდორის ხეობა განუწყვეტლივ იბომბება. ხაიშიდან სვანებმა შემატყობინეს, აფეთქების ხმა ისმის, ჭუბერიდან ისევ მოდიან დევნილებიო. არც კი ვიცი, რით დავაიმედო.

სკაიპით მეგობრები მიკავშირდებიან გერმანიიდან და საფრანგეთიდან. უცხოეთში მცხოვრები ქართველები საპროტესტო აქციებს მართავენ. ჩრდილოეთ ოსეთში მცხოვრები ქართველები კი კორიდორის გახსნასა და სამშობლოში გადმოსვლას ითხოვენ. ვის ესმის? - რუსი იმის უფლებასაც არ იძლევა, რომ ცხინვალში კორიდორი გაკეთდეს და დაჭრილები და დახოცილები გამოიყვანონ.

ენგურის გასწვრივ რუსის ჯარი დგას. ყველაფერს აკონტროლებს, ჩვენი ხელისუფლება კი გაიძახის, რუსს საქართველოს მიწას არ დავანებებთ და გავიმარჯვებთო. ნეტავ რით ვაპირებთ გამარჯვებას? არ მინდა დავიჯერო, რომ ქართველ ჯარისკაცებს შეეშინდათ. მეგობარი მირეკავს ხაიშიდან, მისი 24 წლის ძმა სნაიპერია სენაკის მეორე ბრიგადაში. ვერ ვუკავშირდებიო. ახლა მე ვცდილობ დარეკვას. კარგა ხანს არაფერი გამომდის. მერე მესიჯი მოდის, სნაიპერი მწერს, რომ ცოცხალია, მაგრამ ალყაში მოხვდა და მთხოვს, მისი ოჯახი დავამშვიდო. ე.ი. ისევ უნდა ვიცრუო. ამასობაში ზუგდიდში, თითქმის ყველა სახელმწიფო ორგანიზაციის შენობაში, მათ შორის საპატრულო პოლიციაშიც რუსები ჩადგნენ. რუსებმა გორიც მთლიანად დაიკავეს... როგორც ამბობენ, ახლა თბილისისკენ მოდიან. უცნაურია, სანამ ტელევიზიით ან საინფორმაციო სააგენტოების მეშვეობით გავრცელდება ინფორმაცია, ხალხმა უკვე იცის. აშკარად, ვიღაც შეგნებულად ავრცელებს ინფორმაციას თუ დეზინფორმაციას. ქუჩაში ზედახორაა. ბარგი-ბარხანით დატვირთული ავტომობილებით ზოგი ქალაქიდან გარბის. ვინც ქალაქიდან არ გარბის, სუპერმარკეტებში დგას უზარმაზარ რიგებში. საბაჟო დეპარტამენტიდან მეგობარი მირეკავს, იცი წითელ ხიდზე და სარფში რა ხდება? ხალხს ვეღარ ვაკავებთ, ისეთი ზედახორააო. ეჰ!..

2008 South Ossetia war

2009-01-08T13:29:00.000-08:00

The 2008 South Ossetia War (The 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict) consisted of an armed conflict between Georgia on the one side, and Russia and the separatist self-proclaimed republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other. It occurred in August 2008 and involved land, air and sea warfare.

A civil war fought after the breakup of the Soviet Union left parts of South Ossetia under the control of an unrecognised separatist government backed by Russia. Other parts remained under the control of Georgia. Hostilities escalated during June and July 2008. On the evening of August 7, 2008, Georgia launched a ground- and air-based military attack on South Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali. Russia responded by sending troops into South Ossetia and launching bombing raids farther into Georgia.[41][42][43] The events during 7 August remain a matter of debates and controversy [15][44]. On August 8, Russian naval forces blocked Georgia's coast and landed ground forces and paratroopers on Georgian coast. Russian and Abkhazian forces opened a second front by attacking the Kodori Gorge, held by Georgia,[45] and invaded western parts of Georgia's interior. After five days of heavy fighting, Georgian forces were ejected from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russian troops invaded Georgia proper, occupying the cities of Poti and Gori among others.[46]

Following mediation by EU chairman, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, the parties reached a preliminary ceasefire agreement on August 12, signed by Georgia and Russia on 15 August in Tbilisi and on August 16 in Moscow. On August 12, president Medvedev had already ordered a halt to Russian military operations in Georgia[47] but fighting did not stop immediately.[48] After the signing of the ceasefire Russia pulled most of its troops out of Georgia proper. However, Russia established "buffer zones" around Abkhazia and South Ossetia and check points in Georgia's interior (Poti, Senaki).

On August 26, 2008 Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. International monitoring personnel was deployed in Georgia on October 1. Following international agreements, Russia completed its withdrawal from Georgia on October 8.[49] Russian troops remain stationed in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, including areas under Georgian control before the war, under bilateral agreements with respective governments.[50]

A number of incidents have occurred in both the border conflict zones since the war ended.

ბუბა კიკაბიძე საუბრობს ომის შესახებ

2009-01-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

2009-01-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

http://slideshow.com/galleries/8638-war

Georgia vs Russia

2009-01-08T10:04:00.001-08:00

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES FROM GEORGIA WAR

2009-01-08T06:52:00.000-08:00

russian barbarians 2008 war in Georgia

2009-01-07T08:40:00.000-08:00

სანდრო გირგვლიანი

2008-12-25T10:55:00.000-08:00

ფაშისტი მიხეილ სააკაშვილი

2008-12-25T10:54:00.001-08:00

Putin

2008-12-25T10:52:00.001-08:00

Georgia VS Russia BBC Documentary Movie

2008-12-25T10:49:00.000-08:00

Georgian President Mikheil saakashvili-ღეჭავს ჰალსტუხს

2008-12-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

Georgia vs Russia-რუსეთის ჯარი

2008-12-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

Georgia vs Russia war-რუსეთის ჯარი შედის სამხრეთ ოსეთში

2008-12-25T09:37:00.000-08:00

Georgia vs Russia-ქართველი ტყვე

2008-12-25T09:21:00.000-08:00