Russian peacekeepers on September 13 dismantled their posts on the Poti-Senaki line and left the territory of Georgia in accordance with the agreement reached by President Dmitry Medvedev of the Russian Federation and President Nicolas Sarkozy of the French Republic on September 8. This was done two days ahead of the schedule fixed under the Medvedev-Sarkozy agreement.

The Russian side expects the same clear-cut and conscientious attitude from all those whom it concerns, above all the Georgian leadership as well as the European Union, to the fulfillment of the said agreement. It is, first and foremost, about the guarantees given by the European Union regarding the nonuse of force by the Georgian side against Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the return of all Georgian forces by October 1 to their places of permanent deployment and the timely deployment of international observers in the areas of Georgia abutting Abkhazia and South Ossetia, including at least 200 EU observers, which will make it possible within ten days after this to withdraw Russian peacekeeping forces from these areas as well.

Cited from MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION INFORMATION AND PRESS DEPARTMENT

http://estrellita5.livejournal.com/2730.html

11 of Agugst 2008
I finally heard mom's voice! Thank God they are alive!

Christ! Have the world gone blind? How is it possible not to see atrocities of the Georgians? How can they watch calmly when people were losing relatives, homes, the land they've put so much work into? My grandma is now a refugee without a roof over her head, without her plot of land!

And only 5 days ago she was considered almost a millionaire. She had two-storey house which was rently nicely redecorated and a garden where she was growing vegetables taking care of it with so much affection. She lived with her daughters and grandchildren, kept two cats and a dog.

( continue reading... )

Let’s begin simply by reviewing the last few days.

On the night of Thursday, Aug. 7, forces of the Republic of Georgia drove across the border of South Ossetia, a secessionist region of Georgia that has functioned as an independent entity since the fall of the Soviet Union. The forces drove on to the capital, Tskhinvali, which is close to the border. Georgian forces got bogged down while trying to take the city. In spite of heavy fighting, they never fully secured the city, nor the rest of South Ossetia.

On the morning of Aug. 8, Russian forces entered South Ossetia, using armored and motorized infantry forces along with air power. South Ossetia was informally aligned with Russia, and Russia acted to prevent the region’s absorption by Georgia. Given the speed with which the Russians responded — within hours of the Georgian attack — the Russians were expecting the Georgian attack and were themselves at their jumping-off points. The counterattack was carefully planned and competently executed, and over the next 48 hours, the Russians succeeded in defeating the main Georgian force and forcing a retreat. By Sunday, Aug. 10, the Russians had consolidated their position in South Ossetia.



On Monday, the Russians extended their offensive into Georgia proper, attacking on two axes. One was south from South Ossetia to the Georgian city of Gori. The other drive was from Abkhazia, another secessionist region of Georgia aligned with the Russians. This drive was designed to cut the road between the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and its ports. By this point, the Russians had bombed the military airfields at Marneuli and Vaziani and appeared to have disabled radars at the international airport in Tbilisi. These moves brought Russian forces to within 40 miles of the Georgian capital, while making outside reinforcement and resupply of Georgian forces extremely difficult should anyone wish to undertake it.

( Continue reading... )

Tina Kandelaky is a very famous TV person in Russia, almost like Oprah in the US.
She is Georgian. This is her story about recent events in Georgia.
(my translation original text can be found in her journal at http://tikandelaki.livejournal.com/12696.html)

About three years ago I visited Georgia together with Alexey Venedictov (Radio personality – Russia_insider) and Nargiz Asadova (Radio hostess - Russia_insider). Nargiz and Venediktov were going to take interview of Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvilli. For some time Georgian President administration couldn’t give us a clear answer if Venediktov can bring me with him or not, Saakashvilli first he didn’t want it, after he agreed. Finally we found out that he agreed and I was brought to the meeting.

We saw each other for the first time, though we have many common acquaintances. Saakashvili said that he had been brought up listening to my radio shows and that he remembers how I was narrating in the open air about black panties and other girlish pranks. Venediktov and me looked at each other confused, but it was just the beginning. Saakashvili started sending me SMSes, asking to meet and discuss everything. I took Venediknov’s advice and decided to meet Saakashvilli in his residence.

You ought not imagine any frivolous pictures, I am a grown up person to control any situation. So our night meeting became a serious political argument. At that time he already was persuading me that historically he’s equal to David the Builder. From my side I said that David has built Georgia, but Saakashvili is destroying the country. We argued for long time, and I had four hours to observe him. I’m not a psychiatrist to diagnose anybody, but hypertrophic vanity, multiplied by hypertrophic ambition and if I put it very very mildly unstable nervous system – these are not the best advisors for a president.

When couple of years later Mikhail Nikolayevich came to Moscow and there was a closed diner in GQ bar to honor him, I had another chance to find out that the desire to be valuable for him is much more important for him that all Georgian people.

And that time in his residence, three years ago he was boasting that Georgia will be a topic of everybody to discuss. How could I think then that these word will become true like it is happening now.

It is no secret for anybody that Georgian people are not supporting president Saakashvili. We always have been the most peaceful people at Caucasus (we even don’t know how to fight) and we are the same these days, but are we to be blamed for the fact that God gave us such a president, who started the war not only to Ossetia, but to his own people.

For last 15 year blood was spilled in Georgia several times and each time we hoped that it was the last time, and every time we were mistaken.

I believe that this was the last straw and Georgians living all over the world must express their protest against Saakashvili's actions and against deeds of this tyrant!

( And couple of pictures of a brave leader who visited town of Gory and ran away when he heard sound of a distant plane. )

An opinion of a person who knows the situation from inside.

Joe Mestas, American citizen living in South Ossetia, who witnessed everything that happening in the region.

Just pictures.



( a few more )

A very good example of a newspaper which obviously values its good name.
No lies, but good analysis with some explanations of a background behind the situation.
My respect to the British Guardian. We appreciate it very much.

The clash between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia, which escalated dramatically yesterday, in truth has more in common with the Falklands war of 1982 than it does with a cold war crisis. When the Argentine junta was basking in public approval for its bloodless recovery of Las Malvinas, Henry Kissinger anticipated Britain's widely unexpected military response with the comment: "No great power retreats for ever." Maybe today Russia has stopped the long retreat to Moscow which started under Gorbachev.

In the modern world you cant wage a war just with your tanks and planes.
You have to use media. In Germany during WWII they would say "Truth is not what happened, truth is what we tell people".
Yesterday Russian military aircrafts bombed several Georgian military bases. It worth mentioning that military men are located in the a five-storied buildings which look exactly alike residential. The reason for this is simple, they were built in the Soviet Union times and there was not much diversity in architecture.

This morning (its 7 a.m. Moscow time right now) one can read on the BBC news site. Russia deaf to Western voices, Reuters agency posts a horrible pictures of Russian bombardments of allegedly civilian residential buildings. But what if you take a closer look?

Warning: the pictures contain scenes with blood and allegedly injured people.

For instance on this picture you can see one obviously dead body of a person in a checkered shirt. The other body is carried by medics, carried as if it was a dead body, but you can notice that the hand of a person is holding a woman medic's sleeve. Well so far everything looks pretty real, except maybe for one guy in black who doesn't look anyhow concerned.

( Picture 1 )

Now on this picture we see a crying man and a body in his hands. But look closely! This is the same checkered shirt, same trousers and shoes, the same person. So does it mean that the crying man took the body brought it some place else? Hardly so, this is just one of the participants of the show. And again if you look close enough you can notice that the guy crying is the person in black from the previous picture.

( Picture 2 )

Now here he is again, alone still with some clothes on, or may be he got changed.

( Picture 3 )

Generally if you see the pictures you can notice that nothing happens around the scene. No people running, and there are actually not a lot of people for a big residential building area if it was really bombed.

Well, I'm cant be sure that some Russian rockets didn't hit by accident some building adjacent to a military base, but look, they ruinedTskhinvally. They did it on purpose, and now they blame us! They started military offence in the first day of Olympics. Bombed Russian peacekeepers barracks and Russia is to be blamed? No, I don't think so.

Now, look at the other side. There's no pictures from the capital of South Ossetia which is totally ruined now, and the good reason we don't have pictures from where is because when there's no power for your equipment, even satellite link would be hardly of any use. And if you have a tape, you have to get it out of the city and to survive as well. Two Russian reporters are injured already, others try to relay videos via satellite phones, but the quality is pretty bad as they have to compress it to the minimum size.

And some news:

The capital of S.Ossetia is being under fire again, there's a road from where, called Zarskaya road or Zar road, it's been attacked by Georgian tanks overnight. The attack was repelled, but Georgians still have positions for firing the road. The chief of Russian 58th army was injured, when his convoy was going along this road. Two reporters and members of a TV crew as well were injured in the same convoy.

I would like to say first, that I am a person not brainwashed by any propaganda, though it may sound too bald. I spent some time in the United States and I liked it very very much, people there were just great and I made friends and sometimes total strangers would help me in ways. So all states here is just a product of common sense thinking and not an attempt to make somebody think bad of Georgia or Nato or anybody else.
Everything here is just impressions of a person, personal experience so to say and not something I read in recent news.
So...

Background
Back in the Soviet Union times southern republics like Georgian Soviet Republic or Armenian Soviet Republic had generally a much better level of life than central Russia for instance. I remember when we went to Abkhazia to see our relatives in 1988, I was just a kid but still I remember that our relatives there had two cars, a country house with a garden, and the city of Sukhumi (capital of Abkhazia, which is basically a seaside resort) was very rich. I mean you could go to a store and buy whatever you want speaking of food. At the same time in the city in central Russia where I lived with my parents, city of Kostroma you had to wait in a long queue and if you are lucky than after three hours you could by a chicken, once a month probably. It was called a 'deficit'. It was so, because Soviet government, though it's a bit weird as it seems was more concerned sometimes with prosperity of small republics. That was because they (government) probably considered themselves somehow more responsible for small republics like Georgia or Armenia. Whatever it was, anyway I can swear that in Soviet Union Georgia and other south Caucasus republics did not suffer anyhow worse than all the Russia, but actually otherwise lived much better.

Than the Soviet Union collapsed. Georgian immediately claimed the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia which during the Soviet time were officially a part of Georgian Soviet Republic but before Soviet Union times were separate areas. Abkhazians (I personally spoke with those who fought and witnessed that war) and Ossetians didn't want to be a part of Georgia, they knew that without Soviet Union as a Big Brother who was not letting the kids to fight they are going to become fugitives after Georgia claims their land, fugitives if not slaves. So they took arms against Georgian troops, it happened in early 90s. I've been to Abkhazia last year and there's still a lot of signs of that first conflict. Abkhazian lost almost driven out of their country by Georgian troops who were using Soviet equipment, but with a little unofficial help from Russia they could get their cities back. I will post some pictures when I get back home.

For years after that everything was calm. But South Ossetia and especially Abkhazia which has lots of border line on a Black sea and just a beautiful little country were desired goal for Georgia to obtain. Abkhazia and South Ossetia claimed independence. No countries except Russia acknowledged it. North Ossetia is actually a part of Russia, South Ossetia is eager to become part of Russia, and personally, I don’t understand why Russia hasn't already invited South Ossetia. Almost the same situation in Abkhazia.

In Georgia itself the situation was pretty bad. They gained independence and lost help from big brother. It resulted in serious lack in fuel, electricity, basically everything. But surprisingly Georgian officials decided to blame Russia. They are very persistent in the idea of Russia and Soviet Union as a source of their current misfortune.



Present
First president of Georgia was former Soviet Foreign Affairs minister Eduard Shevarnadze. After unsuccessful attempts he left the idea of war campaigns. Later current president Mikhail Saakashvilly, who is by the way a participant of Edmund Muskey (American Counsel program) grant program, decided that if it's impossible to make living better without external help then it is better to get help from overseas. He made Georgia best friends with US and NATO. US is training Georgian army at the moment. For thinking people (in Georgia as well) it is obvious that Saakashvilly is a US puppet.
First history of recent Russian Georgian conflict started when Chechen militants were using some Georgian territories to get away from Russian troops, hide out and then get back to Chechnya to continue killing innocent people. Pankisi Gorge was at that time in all the news. Later it was used they say for arms and drug trafficking. It was the beginning. Something was being prepared.

This summer started with several explosions in Abkhazia. Than a unpiloted plane was shot down over Abkhazia. All this was probably to distract the attention of Russia and others from South Ossetia.

Yesterday
And exactly on the day of oppening of the Olympics Georgia started offence operation. To my mind it is something what Nazis could do. What I see behind this is a planned act of provocation. Georgia made a move which is in any way profitable. See, if Russia brings troops to the South Ossetia than Georgia may say that it is an offence from Russian side, if Russia stays out of it, than Georgia gets South Ossetia under control. In case of Russian participation Georgia first threatens Russia with war. When Russia says that Russian troops are brought to Ossetia to defend Russian citizens, Georgia forgets that they were going to declare a war and now they want US to take part in it! Do they want a war between US and Russia? Or they want Russia to show weakness and stay away when Russian peacekeepers are dying in the conflict zone. Or they just try to probe and see? It is hard to say what Georgia wants now, but I want anybody who reads this to know that Russian soldiers who are dying in South Ossetia maybe at this very moment, they are by no means perform an act of aggression, they are defending people of South Ossetia, who cry for help.

Check the link to read South Ossetia appeal to people of the world.
http://tskhinval.ru/english/51.html

Sorry if it was too long, but if you found it truthful, please relay it to anybody who is interested.

I'm ready to answer any questions I can answer.

BBC reports:

Georgian troops are expected to observe a three-hour ceasefire to let civilians leave the besieged capital of separatist South Ossetia, say reports.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7548715.stm

This is total and utter nonsense. Osetia and people who live there are no kind of separatists. They are just protecting their homeland against aggression of Georgia.

And this is happening 3-4 hour drive away from my homeland which is really uncomfortable.