Russia Stringing Posts around S. Ossetia
The Russian military has made some of its plans known. It will not leave Georgian territory, in spite of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s assurances that Russian forces will stay in Georgia only until August 22. A security zone will be created around South Ossetia and Russia posts will be set up on South Ossetia’s borders. A Kommersant source in the Georgian government says there are worries there that Russia “is thereby trying to establish control over central Georgia in order to prevent the implementation of hydrocarbon transit projects from the Caspian to Europe.”
Deputy Chief of the General Staff Anatoly Nogovitsyn revealed the military’s plans yesterday. He said Russian troops will gradually leave Georgian territory, but not fully. Along the administrative border of South Ossetia, a security zone will be established with two lines of posts. In the eight posts on the first (interior) line, 272 Russian peacekeepers will be stationed. The second line, consisting of ten posts, will follow the administrative border of South Ossetia; 180 peacekeepers will be stationed there.
The gradual departure of Russian forces is confirmed by Georgian sources as well. Lado Vardzelashvili, governor of the Shida Kartli province, sated yesterday that the situation in Gori is stable and the number of Russian military checkpoints is being reduced. Nonetheless, the Georgian Foreign Ministry calls the Russian forces’ actions in Gori “regrouping 15 km. within the security zone that Russia itself set up around the perimeter of South Ossetia.”
That security zone is causing serious worry in Tbilisi. There, they say that it encompasses practically all of the central part of the country, including Gori and the only highway that connects the eastern and western parts of the country. They are worried in Tbilisi that Russia will continue to control the city and the road with the only difference that the 58th Army will be replaced by peacekeepers. Peacekeepers have already appeared with the soldiers on the outskirts of Gori.
“What Russian forces are doing now in Georgia has nothing to do with South Ossetia,” Georgian Minister of State for Reintegration Timur Yakobashvili told Kommersant. “Russia’s goal is geopolitical. It is trying to establish control over central Georgia to prevent the implementation of projects to transport hydrocarbons from the Caspian basin through the South Caucasus to Europe, which are already being implemented.”
Georgian political scientist Nika Imnaishvili thinks the Georgian authorities’ worries are justified. “Whoever controls central Georgia, which all communications pass through, controls all of Georgia,” he told Kommersant. “Whoever controls Georgia controls all of the South Caucasus and the Caucasus as a whole. Whoever controls the Caucasus controls all of the Black Sea – Caspian basin, including Central Asia.”
Gen. Nogovitsyn emphasized yesterday that “Gori is not included in the security zone around South Ossetia.” He did not say whether or not any of the strategically important east-west roadway is included in the security zone.
Nogovitsyn did accuse Georgia of “energetically continuing to take measures to restore the combat-readiness of its forces,” while “Georgian special forces are preparing diversions.” As an example of Georgia’s aggressive intentions, Nogovitsyn noted a recognizance flight by a Georgian pilotless aircraft on Tuesday evening. In the general’s words, “at 9:50 p.m. Moscow time, the flying apparatus was destroyed.”
Georgy Dvali, Tbilisi; Gennady Sysoev
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 21, 2008
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