Return flight

UN mission observers found the person responsible for the death of a Georgian drone

A Georgian reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was shot down by a Russian military aircraft on April 20 - this is the conclusion of the UN observer mission in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone. This news was immediately announced by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, omitting the word “mission”. And it turned out to be significant - as if the entire United Nations was dealing with the downed drone. In fact, such a radical conclusion was made by several representatives of the mission, relying on data from a radar control station at the airport in the Georgian city of Poti, as well as video recorded by the on-board camera of the UAV before it was shot down. This video is publicly available and can be viewed online.

According to the version set out in the conclusion prepared by UN observers, a Russian combat aircraft, presumably a MiG-29 or Su-27, took off from the airfield of the Abkhaz city of Gudauta or flew up to this airfield from somewhere else at an extremely low altitude, and therefore was not detected by the radar in Poti. Having destroyed a Georgian drone (another name for a UAV) with a missile, the interceptor headed north and entered Russian airspace in the direction of Maykop-Krasnodar. “In the absence of clear evidence to the contrary, this leads to the conclusion that the aircraft belonged to the Russian air force,” observers concluded. The report's authors have no doubt about the authenticity of the video. The Russian Foreign Ministry, on the contrary, regarded her as untrustworthy.

We must pay tribute to the observers from the UN mission - in their report they indicated that the flights of Georgian aircraft in the conflict zone constitute military activity and, thus, contradict the Moscow Agreement of 1994. This document stipulates that the parties must maintain a truce on land, sea and air and refrain from any military action.

The Russian Ministry of Defense yesterday categorically denied the conclusion of international observers. “There can be no talk of any violation of the state border with Georgia, much less the shooting down of a reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle - on April 20, there were no flights of Air Force aircraft near the Georgian border,” says the official statement of the Russian military department. This message repeats the statement made by Air Force Commander-in-Chief Colonel General Alexander Zelin in mid-May. Abkhaz authorities, on the contrary, claim that it was the air force of the unrecognized republic that shot down the Georgian drone. Abkhaz Defense Minister Merab Kishmaria claims that he has evidence: the downed Georgian drone was the work of Abkhazians alone. According to reports from Sukhumi, to date the air defense forces of Abkhazia have already destroyed seven Georgian UAVs. Tbilisi confirms the loss of only one drone - on April 20.

The Georgian side believes that if the video recorded an aircraft with a two-tail tail, which is typical of the MiG-29 or Su-27, then it is clear that the aircraft is Russian. However, the Abkhaz Army Air Force has two Su-27s in addition to other aircraft and helicopters. In addition, the Abkhaz several times demonstrated debris (each time new), as they claim, of downed Georgian UAVs, pointing out their make, number, and country of manufacture. They somehow shot down these aircraft! There is even a version put forward that these were interceptors from a third country. That is, it is hardly possible to speak unequivocally about the “hand of Moscow” here.

The skirmish within the high-profile aircraft scandal is unlikely to end with anything definite in the near future. The parties will likely continue to blame each other, especially without difficulty finding concrete evidence. However, political consequences may well appear in the near future. As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia stated, due to the bias of representatives of the UN mission in the conflict zone, the republic may raise the question of withdrawing from the negotiation process with Georgia under the auspices of this international organization. Abkhaz deputies have already addressed the president of the republic on this issue, believing that both the UN and the Group of Friends of the Secretary General of this organization for Georgia were on the Georgian side and that “Georgia’s aggressive actions are encouraged.”

In turn, Georgia hopes that the conclusion of UN observers will influence the EU resolution on Georgia, which should soon be adopted by this international organization. Moreover, Georgia is speeding up efforts to change the format of the peacekeeping operation. We are talking about replacing Russian peacekeepers with military personnel from other countries.

Nikolay POROSKOV