Russia Goes on the Defensive
// Russians are being evacuated from Georgia
Russia took measures against Georgia yesterday that usually precede military action. The Russian ambassador was recalled, and today the evacuation military and embassy personnel begins. The Foreign Ministry is recommending that Russians delay trips to Georgia. This is the response to the arrest in Tbilisi of Russian officers accused of espionage.
Moscow Applies Pressure
The Russian stopped accepting applications for visas from Georgian citizens. Mikhail Svirin, press secretary of the Russian diplomatic mission in Tbilisi, said that visas will be given to those who applied before September 28. He specified that only persons with Georgian passports are being turned away, not persons from third countries.
The visa boycott is only the first step in Moscow's response to the arrest of its officers by the Georgians. Tension increased in the course of the day and the Russian Foreign Ministry announced in the evening that the retaliatory measures were being expanded. Russian Ambassador in Tbilisi Viktor Kovalenko was recalled to Moscow for consultations. The evacuation of the families of Russian military and embassy workers was announced at the same time. The first Emergencies Ministry plane with evacuees left today. In addition, the Russian Foreign Ministry recommended that Russian citizens not travel to Georgia.
Russian politicians made it clear today that more measures would follow these, and that they would be more extreme. Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov set the tone when he recalled that three of the four officers arrested had only been in Georgia for three months and called charges against the officers for a terrorist act last year “addled.” “I wouldn't be surprised if Georgia charges them today with trying to kidnap the sun from the sky,” Ivanov commented, and added that the whole thing “is reminiscent of 1937.” “After yesterday's incident, I asked not only military personnel, but also member of their families, not to go out onto the street. Banditry in Georgia has reached the state level,” he said. He expressed the opinion that Georgia was trying to provoke Russia to react incautiously and promised that “Russia's actions will be adequate and responsible.”
Punishment for Georgia was the topic of heated debate among many Russian politicians, parliamentarians and analysts yesterday. Their opinions point to Russian diplomatic initiatives to bring broad international pressure to bear on Tbilisi, with political, economic and military measures being taken.
Moscow sees the UN Security Council as its main instrument of outside influence on Tbilisi. “It is a reason for the Security Council to become involved in the problem, and all the more so that the Georgian leadership has made new provocations in Abkhazian affairs,” Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov noted. “We will firmly insist that a Security Council resolution be the principle evaluation of Georgia's subversive acts” he said. The UN will hold consultations on the issue tonight, immediately after the latest round of voting on the new UN general secretary.
Russian parliamentarians have suggested other, more radical measures such as lowering relations to consular, cutting off electricity supplies to Georgia, new limitations on Georgian goods on sale in Russia, a halt to postal money transfers from Russia to Georgia, deportation of Georgian businessmen and augmentation of Russian peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia and the Caucasus as a whole. Federation Council speaker Sergey Mironov has come out as the chief hawk and declared that war is possible. “Such acts to exacerbate spy mania as we have seen on Georgia could be a prelude to military action,” he said.
Tbilisi Stands Firm
Russia's response did not still Georgian authorities. The special operations that began yesterday continued today. The Interior Ministry announced that the counterintelligence department has arrested two more suspected of spying for Russia in Batumi. One of them, Ruslan Skrylnikov, was a contract serviceman in the Russian Group of Forces in the Transcaucasus. The other was a Georgian citizen, Amiran Aslanyan. Thus the total of arrests in two days comes to four Russian officers and 13 Georgian citizens. The Russian Army headquarters in Tbilisi remained under intense police surveillance all day yesterday. Police surrounded the building and checked the documents of all who enter or left the building. Georgian law enforcement bodies are certain that another suspect, intelligence Lieut. Col. Konstantin Pichugin is hiding in the building. The Georgian Foreign Ministry has demanded that Moscow hand over that officer. A note to that effect was given to Russian side through Ivan Volynkin, an adviser in the Russian embassy in Georgia.
Georgian television showed sensationalistic live action clips yesterday and played excerpts from telephone conversations between the arrested Russian officers and their Georgian recruits. Conversations recorded by hidden camera between the Russian officers and their agents and payments being made to them were shown. The footage was shot from Interior Ministry cars posing as taxis.
Georgian politicians were quick to join the action as well. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili decided to give Moscow a personal response. “I don't understand all the hysterics,” he commented. “They want to evacuate all the members of military personnel's families, but they are under no threat. We defend all their rights and observe all our obligations. Our counterintelligence functions very well. Everyone should understand that we aren't just talking. There are lines that no one dares cross and any self-respecting state will defend those lines.” Speaker of the Georgian parliament Nino Burjanadze joined in the polemics by saying that “I don't know of any case in world practice where sanctions were placed on a country only because it uncovered spies with evidence and arrested them. But Russia has repeatedly imposed sanctions on us and it is no surprise.” She added that the fact that high-placed Russian officials are making harsh statements without acquainting themselves with the evidence shows that they know very well what their representatives are doing in Georgia and their main goal is political blackmail.
Washington Lets Loose
In its examination of the events yesterday, the Georgina newspaper Alia suggested that U.S. special services were mixed up in them. The U.S. embassy in Georgia responded to that suggestion immediately. The embassy press service called it “senseless.”
There are examples of American special services helping their foreign colleagues locate catch Russian agents. Qatari authorities admitted in 2004 that American special services helped them in the investigation of the murder of Zelimakhan Yandarbaev. It was American assistance that put Qatari law enforcement on the trail of the three employees of the Russian Defense Ministry Main Intelligence Department, two of who were consequently found guilty of the murder.
Unlike the Qatari case, neither Tbilisi nor Washington is likely to admit to cooperating in the current special operation even if it did take place. Any U.S. interference would mean an open standoff between the American and Russian special services in the Cold War spirit. It is clear, nonetheless, that the United States is providing Georgia with serious political support. Lat week, NATO declared the beginning of an “intensive dialog” with Georgia on accession to the alliance. That is the penultimate step in membership. But NATO has never yet invited a state engaged in an international conflict to join it. But it happened to Georgia while it was at loggerheads with Moscow.
Georgia became even more aggressive after Brussels overture. First Saakashvili accused Russia in The UN of “bandit occupation” of Georgian land. Then the operation against the Russian military was started. Thus, the “intensive dialog” with NATO was clearly taken as open season for anti-Russian actions.
The U.S. has long been in the Georgian camp and is ready to show Saakashvili all possible support. It seems that Russia's position became firm yesterday. It will see the regime in Georgia replaced at any cost.
Vladimir Novikov, Tbilisi; Sergey Strokan, Vladimir Solovyev, Mikhail Zygar
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 29, 2006
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