Anti-aircraft-uranium barter

Georgia has denied involvement in illegal arms supplies to Russia

Yesterday, the Prosecutor General's Office unexpectedly made its contribution to the aggravation of relations between Georgia and Russia . A seemingly ordinary speech in Rostov-on-Don by Deputy Prosecutor General for the Southern Federal District (SFD) Ivan Sydoruk became the reason for proceedings that in the near future threaten to result in another interstate scandal.

At a coordination meeting of the heads of law enforcement agencies of the Southern Federal District, the deputy prosecutor general mentioned a high-profile criminal case, which the Krasnodar regional prosecutor's office is preparing to bring to court the other day. Five of his defendants, according to Mr. Sydoruk, are suspected of smuggling Strela-2M man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems (MANPADS) from Georgian territory to Russia. True, the deputy prosecutor general did not delve into the history and details of the case yesterday, only clarifying that this special operation once again shows the unity in the actions of employees of the Russian FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, customs, and the prosecutor's office. The details of this story, of course, immediately interested representatives of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, since it turned out that Georgia seemed to be supplying Russian bandits with such formidable weapons as MANPADS. Tbilisi categorically denied information about the possibility of “leakage” of any weapons to Russia, calling the words of the deputy prosecutor general “absurd” and “referring to a series of fairy tales.”

As Vremya Novostey managed to find out, the events mentioned by the Deputy Prosecutor General at the coordination meeting occurred in mid-November last year. On November 24, in the Adler district of Sochi , five people were detained trying to sell four Strela-2M MANPADS . Local FSB and police operatives tracked down the smugglers. Checking information about unknown persons who allegedly intended to sell a large consignment of weapons, the seizure group headed to the village of Verkhne-Veseloye, Adler district. In one of the private houses on Chernovitskaya Street, operatives acting as buyers detained four members of one of the criminal gangs and an unemployed local resident. On November 26, a criminal case was opened on this fact under Art. 188 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (smuggling).

Where the local bandits got the anti-aircraft missile systems from was not commented on by any of the law enforcement agencies. The leadership of the border guard units, which are based in the Krasnodar Territory, in turn, categorically denied the involvement of their employees in smuggling. Considering that the village of Verkhne-Veseloye is located on the Russian border with Abkhazia, a version was put forward that the weapons came from there.

And now, as Ivan Sydoruk said yesterday, Russian law enforcement agencies are confident that the Strela-2M MANPADS were transported from Georgian territory. However, both the regional prosecutor's office and the Main Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office in the Southern Federal District categorically refused to explain anything about this criminal case. “Everything that needed to be voiced was voiced. We do not intend to give any details,” Vladimir Rudyak, Mr. Sydoruk’s deputy, told Vremya Novostei yesterday. And local intelligence operatives completely refuted the deputy prosecutor general’s statement about the completion of the investigation.

But representatives of the Georgian authorities immediately made several official statements. Now, according to Tbilisi, such complexes are strictly controlled throughout the country, with the exception of the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. “This is one of those absurd statements by Russian representatives that belong to a series of fairy tales,” Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Levan Nikolaishvili commented to reporters on Thursday.

A high-ranking representative of the Georgian General Staff, who wished to remain anonymous, told Vremya Novostey that he also considers the accusations against Tbilisi “absurd”: “We have everything documented, where each complex is. Everything is specially registered, you can easily find out where this “Strela” is from by its numbers. This is not a toy to be taken across the border in your pocket.” He also suggested that “such weapons could only reach Russia through uncontrolled areas in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.” Moreover, “MANPADS were detained in the neighboring Krasnodar region.” Our interlocutor also mentioned that “Abkhaz and South Ossetian formations have such complexes.” However, Vremya Novostey’s sources in Sukhumi and Tskhinvali rejected the possibility that the unrecognized republics were involved in the incident.

Meanwhile, Georgian independent expert on defense and security issues Irakli Sesiashvili believes that “we may be talking about a criminal chain with mandatory access to customers in Russia.” Noting that “there has been no transport communication between Georgia and Russia since the fall of last year, with the exception of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” the expert suggested: “Most likely, we were simply answered to accusations that radioactive materials are being smuggled from Russia.” Let us recall that at the beginning of this year it became known that Russian citizen Oleg Khintsagov was serving an eight-year prison sentence in Georgia for importing highly enriched uranium for the purpose of sale.

Mikhail VIGNANSKY, Tbilisi, Tatiana GRITSENKO