Translated material
First Caucasian Front
A representative of the General Staff spoke about military operations in South Ossetia
After the deployment of a group of Russian troops to strengthen the Joint Peacekeeping Forces in the area of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, Georgian armed formations in the Tskhinvali region went on the defensive. However, on the afternoon of August 9, active hostilities resumed. Up to three Georgian battalions, supported by ten tanks, attempted to return to the city. They were supported by artillery, which fired from the villages of Nikozi, Khetagurovo and Zemo at Russian military columns, without dismantling the vehicles in which the civilian population, the wounded and sick were evacuated. To provide support to the peacekeepers, the 503rd Motorized Rifle Regiment entered the area of operations of the peacekeeping battalion through the northern enclave. Yesterday, Georgian units began to withdraw from the South Ossetian capital, this was recorded by Russian military intelligence. Units of the Abkhaz army took up their positions on the border with Georgia on the Inguri River. This is how Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General Anatoly Nogovitsyn described the situation around Tskhinvali yesterday afternoon.According to data as of the second half of yesterday, most of Tskhinvali was controlled by Russian troops, but the situation is unstable and may change - the Georgian side was bringing up reserves. Among the reserves is a Georgian contingent of 2,000 in Iraq, which partially began arriving in Tbilisi yesterday. It is noteworthy that Georgia cannot take its soldiers out of Iraq on its own; it needs military transport aircraft, which the United States can provide. Russian military intelligence says that such a turn was part of the initial scenario for the development of events around Tskhinvali: under a plausible pretext, the Americans could find themselves in the conflict zone. Yesterday, in any case, it was representatives of the American military command in Baghdad who announced the sending of Georgians to their homeland. TASS reported that they said the US had responded positively to Tbilisi's request and "some flights have already begun."
The Russian General Staff does not deny losses, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to count them - it is sometimes difficult to identify the remains of the dead, including those of the Georgian military. The Georgian side, unlike the Russians, does not announce its losses at all. Perhaps President Mikheil Saakashvili is afraid of growing discontent within the country. General Nogovitsyn nevertheless promised to give in the future as accurate figures as possible for losses, including in equipment. Georgia speaks, in particular, about the loss of 12 aircraft by Russia, the Russian military speaks about two - the Su-25 attack aircraft and the Tu-22 long-range bomber. One crew was evacuated and is in a hospital in Russia; there is no exact news about the second. Perhaps the pilots are captured. Then the Russian Foreign Ministry will try to negotiate the transfer of prisoners in accordance with international law. The Russian and Georgian military commands have no direct contacts.
As in any war, there are many mysteries in this one. One of them is why the Tu-22 strategic bomber was used in a small theater of military operations. A Vremya Novostei columnist asked this question to General Nogovitsyn. According to the general, this plane was required to conduct reconnaissance necessary to carry out targeted strikes “specifically against the military groups of the aggressor.” The general said: aviation reveals groupings of enemy troops and forces, reserves that are either located or are being formed in the second echelon (that is, deep in Georgian territory) and could later be used in combat operations against South Ossetia. Such activities, the Russian General Staff believes, are legally justified.
Mr. Nogovitsyn clarified that Russian aviation is not used in attacks on urban areas and peaceful settlements. A representative of the General Staff believes that the Tu-22 may have been shot down by a Tor missile. According to other sources, the strategic bomber was shot down by the S-200 long-range anti-aircraft missile system supplied to Georgia by Ukraine. There is a persistent rumor that the firing from the S-200 was controlled by the Ukrainian combat crew. It still remains a mystery why the Russian military could not use the same drones for reconnaissance.
Another mystery: why was the commander of the 58th Army, General Anatoly Khrulev, wounded? Over the past 10-15 years, military leaders of such high rank have not found themselves in such a situation in combat operations in hot spots. “Perhaps because,” a military general who participated in several military conflicts, who, in his words, did not want to “shine,” shared with a Vremya Novostey observer, “that Army Commander-58, with all the deep respect for him, went with in a convoy, although he could have safely flown by helicopter at low altitude. In addition, according to unverified data, he took journalists into his car, who spoke on a space telephone while on the road. This signal is easy to detect...”
New in the situation: the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that if ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet participate in the operation with the support of peacekeepers, they will be prohibited from returning to Sevastopol until the conflict is fully resolved. The Russian military was not ready to comment on such a statement yesterday. However, they stated that the combat use of fleet forces that arrived in the eastern part of the Black Sea (missile cruiser "Moskva", ship "Smetlivy", small anti-submarine ships "Muromets" and "Aleksandrovets", two missile boats, sea transport "General Ryabikov" and rescue ship "Epron"), was not. Their task is to prevent Georgian warships from approaching the shores of Abkhazia.
The Georgian armed forces today are not the same as they were 15 years ago, said General Nogovitsyn. This is a modern, mobilized, highly trained group of troops and forces, equipped with modern weapons. It outnumbered the peacekeepers by 12 times, which is why the Russian side was forced to increase the peacekeeper group after Georgia started hostilities. Russia's position today is simple - to quickly separate the warring parties. However, there were no official proposals for a truce from Georgia at the time of General Nogovitsyn’s press conference. Later, with reference to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, a message appeared that a note was sent to the Russian Consul in Georgia Andrei Smaga about Georgia’s cessation of hostilities and readiness for immediate negotiations. And at around 19:00 the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed receipt of the note.
Preparatory measures, a representative of the Russian General Staff admitted, are being carried out in other areas. Figuratively speaking, the “first Caucasian front” can be strengthened by the “second front” in Abkhazia. According to a representative of the Russian General Staff, there are no military operations there yet; Russia is not going to take the initiative to escalate the conflict, that is, to open a “second front.” However, Russian formations can be seriously strengthened; according to the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, as many forces and resources will be sent to this region as the situation requires.
The armed forces of South Ossetia are 2.5 thousand people and just over 13 thousand reservists. It is armed with 15 tanks (T-72 and T-55), about 25 Gvozdika and Akatsiya self-propelled artillery mounts, 12 D-30 howitzers, six Grad multiple launch rocket systems, four 100-mm anti-tank guns, more 30 mortars, about fifty infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, several dozen Fagot and Konkurs anti-tank missile systems, four Mi-8 helicopters, approximately five Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, three Tunguska missile and gun systems, six vehicles with the complex short-range Strela, 12 twin 23-mm ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns and about a hundred Igla MANPADS of various modifications.
The armed forces of Georgia today number over 30 thousand people, of which 20 thousand are in the ground forces. Up to 100 thousand reservists can be put under arms. There are more than 200 tanks in service, mainly T-72 and a few T-55, approximately the same number of armored fighting vehicles, including 180 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 120 artillery guns of caliber from 122 mm to 152 mm, approximately 40 multiple launch rocket systems , 180 mortars, up to ten modernized Su-25KM Mimino attack aircraft, 30 helicopters, of which eight are combat Mi-24, 15 Czech trainers L-29 and L-39. The Georgian Air Force also has six American Iroquois and Bell-212 helicopters. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has five brigades, of which one is special-purpose.
The number of Russian troops in the conflict zone is difficult to estimate, but it already exceeds the number of Georgian troops.