| Quiet nights in South Ossetia have become rare Yesterday, Georgia took the conflict in South Ossetia to a new level, saying that Russian peacekeepers had openly supported the Ossetians for the first time. Official Tbilisi at one time accused Russia of providing professional military support to the separatists in Abkhazia. However, in the early 90s there were grounds for such accusations. However, these are different times. Despite the escalation of violence in South Ossetia, the first real hopes for a peaceful solution to the problem appeared yesterday: Russia and Georgia agreed - so far in words - to turn the unrecognized republic on Georgian territory into a demilitarized zone.
However, for now the parties continue to exchange mutual accusations. At a special briefing, Deputy Minister of State Security Georgiy Ugulava said that on the night of August 11, Georgian posts and villages came under fire from the Ossetian settlements of Sarabuki and Kakhati. “An attempt was made to massively attack the bypass road connecting Georgian villages in the conflict zone, after which the village of Tamarasheni was shelled, as a result of which local resident Inna Chibirova was wounded,” the deputy minister said. At the same time, according to him, “the Russian peacekeeping contingent, which was supposed to remain neutral, instead participated in the conflict.”
According to the Georgian Ministry of State Security, “howitzers were firing from the Russian peacekeepers’ post in the direction of the village of Tamarasheni.” In addition, “an infantry fighting vehicle with Russian license plates and the emblem of peacekeeping forces took part in hostilities, shelling Georgian villages,” Mr. Ugulava said. According to him, Russian peacekeepers spent the whole night supplying the Ossetian side with information about the movements of the Georgian peacekeeping contingent.
In an interview with Vremya Novostey, the chief of staff of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Namestnikov, called these accusations slander. The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Colonel General Yuri Baluevsky, was equally categorical: “The Georgian side’s statement that Russian peacekeepers took part in the shelling, including with the use of howitzers, last night does not correspond to reality. Neither Russian, nor Georgian, nor Ossetian peacekeepers have howitzers. They are armed only with small arms.”
However, official Tbilisi stubbornly adheres to its version. “We insist that Russian peacekeepers comply with their mandate,” Georgy Targamadze, chairman of the parliamentary committee on defense and national security, told Vremya Novostei. - Today the support of the Russian military for the Ossetian separatists has become obvious. The South Ossetian armed forces have military advisers from Russia. In general, the Russian military machine is developing optimal recommendations for South Ossetia. The Ossetians themselves must understand that this is ultimately not in their interests. How do we respond? On Wednesday we returned from North Ossetia to Georgia, to the village of Mitarbi, four Ossetian families who were forced to leave their homeland 14 years ago during the armed conflict. This is only the first batch. It is already known that another 20 families are interested in returning. The process will continue, we will create all the necessary conditions for them. This is our policy in response to provocations.”
In Tskhinvali they do not believe in the peacefulness of Georgians. They say that it was the shelling on the night of August 11 that gives reason for doubt. The official representative of the administration of the President of South Ossetia, Alan Elbakiev, told Vremya Novostey that the unrecognized republic was fired at from mortars all night. In Sarabuki, 70% of houses were destroyed, in Dmenisi - 11%. “Two women and three policemen were injured of varying degrees of severity,” says Alan Elbakiev. - We don’t need to officially introduce a state of emergency, this is already obvious. There is no electricity in Tskhinvali, apparently something was blown up. If such trends continue, then we can talk about a repeat of the blockade that we experienced in the early nineties, during the armed conflict.”
Residents of Tskhinvali actually spent almost half a day without electricity - four high-voltage line supports were damaged during night shelling.
The damage was repaired only in the evening. The power outage also caused the water supply to stop. However, the residents of South Ossetia are no strangers to such trials. Many local institutions are switching to autonomous power supply if necessary, and people are stocking up on water.
“In the conflict zone, Georgia maintains up to a thousand military personnel in addition to the required staff of five hundred peacekeepers,” South Ossetian Interior Minister Robet Guliyev told Vremya Novostei. — Among them are many who arrived from Western Georgia and Kists from the Pankisi Gorge. According to our data, it is these people who provoke and start shelling. If large-scale provocations continue, I do not rule out an escalation of the conflict.”
Meanwhile, Georgian TV channels are not giving up their positions in the information war and are showing “their” wounded. Ironically, this is an elderly Ossetian woman from the village of Tamarasheni. Inna Chibirova says from her hospital bed that “they shot from the direction of Tskhinvali.” In addition to Tamarasheni, according to the Georgian side, the villages of Eredvi and Kheiti were also shelled. Two policemen were wounded. Georgian Presidential Commissioner Mikhail Kareli told reporters after these attacks that South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity “is an international criminal” whose presence at large poses a danger to both Georgians and Ossetians.
It is obvious that without a prompt separation of the parties and the start of the demilitarization process, the situation may completely get out of control. On Wednesday in Moscow, following the visit, Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze said that “absolute mutual understanding has been reached on the issue of complete demilitarization of the conflict zone and the entire region.” According to him, “both Georgia and the separatists must withdraw all their military formations that were brought into the region in violation of the relevant agreements.” The minister spoke in favor of a synchronized withdrawal of Georgian and Ossetian forces. In addition, according to him, Tbilisi considers it necessary to expand the zone of responsibility of the peacekeepers deep into South Ossetia. We are talking about the Java region, where, according to the Georgian side, South Ossetian mercenaries and heavy equipment are concentrated. In response, the Chief of the Russian General Staff, Yuri Baluevsky, emphasized that the actions of peacekeepers in other zones are possible by decision of the Joint Control Commission.
A meeting between the leaders of Russia and Georgia could probably help resolve tensions around South Ossetia. However, informed sources in Moscow denied reports about the Russian president's upcoming trip to Tbilisi in the coming months. “A trip to Georgia for the fall of this year was not and is not on Vladimir Putin’s schedule,” a Kremlin source told Interfax. Mikhail VIGNANSKY, Tbilisi |
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