More Drones Downed over Abkhazia
Abkhazian authorities have announced that they shot down two more Georgian unpiloted reconnaissance planes over the territory of the unrecognized republic yesterday. Moscow and Sukhumi accused Tbilisi of escalating the conflict and preparing an armed invasion of Abkhazia. The Abkhazian armed forces have been placed on high alert. The defense ministry of the unrecognized republic has said that, should Georgia advance on Abkhazia, they will chase the enemy back to Kutaisi. Georgia has denied the downing of the drones, but stated that Georgian airplanes “flew, fly and will fly” over Abkhazia “to receive full information about the military intervention of Russia.”
Kommersant has learned that the drone was downed at 4:06 p.m. “Our air force has shot down one more Georgian unpiloted reconnaissance plane,” defense minister of the unrecognized republic Merab Kishmaria announced. “The plane was the same type as was already shot down over Abkhazia.” Half an hour later, Abkhazian Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba told Kommersant that a second drone was shot down at 4:26. That information was confirmed a few minutes later by Kishmaria. “Both planes were flying at an altitude of 7000 m. We shot them down using earth-bound air defense systems,” the defense minister stated. According to Abkhazian sources, the first drone was shot down over the village of Achigvara, Ochamchira District, and the second over First Gali, Gali District.
In Sukhumi, Tbilisi's actions were judged to be preparation for war. “Those events clear say that Georgia is preparing an invasion of Abkhazia. Four drones have been shot down over our territory since March,” Shamba told Kommersant. Moscow quickly took Sukhumi's side. “The new appearance of Georgian flying reconnaissance devices over Abkhazia and their subsequent destruction shows that they ignored our warning in Tbilisi,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stated. “By turning to adventures with unpiloted planes and forcing military preparations near the conflict zone, Tbilisi authorities have taken a course of conscious exacerbation of tensions in the region. All responsibility for such a course lies with the Georgian side.” A source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told Kommersant that Moscow will now think up a set of responsive measures, one of which may be an increase in the Russian contingent in Abkhazia to 3000 people (after the latest increase on April 29, 2500 peacekeepers are located on the territory of the republic).
The first Georgian drones were made by the Israeli firm Elbit System and were shot down over Abkhazia on March 18 and April 20. The latter incident led to a sharp increase in tensions in Abkhazia. Tbilisi accused Moscow of shooting down the drones with a MiG-29 Russian Air Force plane taking off from the airbase at Gudauta. (In Sukhumi, they claim it was an Abkhazian L-39 plane.) Georgian authorities called Russia's actions an “aggression” and a session of the UN Security Council was called to consider the incident. On April 29, Moscow announced that the Russian peacekeeping contingent would be increased to 2500 soldiers. The 1994 agreement places a limit of 3000 on them. Russia cited that the concentration of Georgian forces on the border of the unrecognized republic. On the weekend, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the step was a response to Georgia's desire to join NATO.
In the hours immediately after the report of the downed drone, Georgia announced that it was not a party to the incident. A spokesman for the Georgian Defense Ministry told Kommersant that “The ministry does not confirm the fact of flights of Georgian unpiloted devices over the territory controlled by Abkhazian authorities.” Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Timur Yakobashvili did not confirm that information for Kommersant either, however, he did not deny it either. Only Georgian Interior Ministry chief of staff Shota Khizanishvili called the information about the downed drones an “arrogant lie.” Immediately after the incident on April 20, Tbilisi claimed that there were no Georgian airborne devices in the conflict zone.
Experts have found several holes in the Abkhazian account of the events. “Sukhumi claims that the drone was shot down from the ground, but very advanced arms systems are needed for that. To intercept a drone by its infrared trail and shoot it down with a regular missile is almost impossible. It is highly doubtful that such systems exist in the Abkhazian army's arsenal,” Denis Fedukinov, editor-in-chief of uav.ru, an Internet portal for unpiloted aviation, told Kommersant. “Moreover, the Abkhazian side claims the spy plane was shot down at an altitude of 7000 m. At the same time, the altitude limit for a Hermes 450 model is just 5500 m.” The press service of the Russian Air Force declined to comment on the events yesterday.
Abkhazian authorities used the incident to initiate military preparations. “All of our units have been put on high alert. We have already begun reexamining mobilization plans, so partial or full mobilization may begin soon in Abkhazia,” Shamba told Kommersant. “We have completely reliable data that Georgia, with the participation of foreign specialists, has prepared a plan for armed action against Abkhazia. It may be carried out in the coming days.”
Kishmaria talked about such a plan Saturday evening. Simultaneously, a “high placed source in Russian enforcement structures” told Russian information agencies about such a plan. A Kommersant source in the Abkhazian leadership said that the plan calls for the seizure of strategic objects on the Abkhazian shore and the landing of 3000 Georgian soldiers in the lower part of Kodori Gorge. Kishmaria told Kommersant that there are 7500 Georgian soldiers and heavy weapons concentrated on the border with Abkhazia. “If they invade us, we will need two days for defense, and in two more days we will reach Kutaisi [Western Georgia], we have the strength and equipment for it,” the minister threatened. He said Abkhazia “will move the military action onto the opponent's territory to create a sort of buffer zone to shield us from Georgia.”
Yesterday, Georgian authorities categorically denied rumors of an approaching invasion of Abkhazia. A source in the Georgian Defense Ministry told Kommersant “There has been no movement by our units in the direction of Abkhazia. The nearest Georgian military base is in Senaki and the units located there not only did not move in the direction of Abkhazia, they are not even on alert.” Kommersant was told in the Georgian Interior Ministry that there are only “lightly armed police formations to maintain order” in Kodori Gorge. The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that Tbilisi “will demand that the UN military observation mission in Abkhazia confirm that Georgia has introduced no forces into the conflict zone.” Konstantin Gabashvili, chairman of the parliamentary committee on international affairs, spoke more strongly in a conversation with Kommersant. “Those scare tactics were thought up to interfere with Georgia's relations with NATO and maybe to carry out aggression in Kodori Gorge and justify it as a necessary preventative strike.”
However, closer to evening, the rhetoric of official Tbilisi became noticeably harsher. The Georgian Foreign Ministry issued a sharply worded statement. “That given information is a Russian provocation with the goal of providing informational-propagandistic support for Russian military intervention,” the statement read. “The unpiloted Georgian Interior Ministry planes flew, fly and will fly in order to obtain information about the military intervention of the Russian Federation.”
Alexander Gabuev; Georgy Dvali, Tbilisi
All the Article in Russian as of May 05, 2008
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