Russia/Georgia Situation News & Updates

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Russia had no choice but to launch a counterattack to Georgia's offensive in breakaway South Ossetia, but it is still possible to find a political solution to the crisis.

"What happened on the night of August 7 is beyond comprehension," Gorbachev said in an article The Guardian published on Wednesday. "The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas."

The Russo-Georgian War and the Balance of Power

"The columns are moving from Tskhinvali to Russia," Major-General Vyachislav Borisov, a Russian commander, said on Sunday.

"[President Dmitry] Medvedev has said we are to withdraw," he told the Reuters news agency near the Georgian town of Gori.

However, a witness in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali told Al Jazeera that the only troop movements on Sunday appeared to be heading south rather than north back into Russia.

Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri, reporting to North Ossetia, also said that when she headed out of the region on Saturday evening Russian columns could be seen heading towards Tskhinvali.

Expect the Russians to draw back from Igoeti and redeploy to somewhere else.

* Georgia says Russians redeploying around other cities

* Russian commander says troops on the move

* Defence Ministry says no withdrawal ordered

By Matt Robinson

GORI, Georgia, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Russian troops have begun regrouping around central Georgian cities, Georgia said on Sunday, ahead of what the West hopes will be a quick withdrawal from the Black Sea state.

A senior Russian commander said troops had begun withdrawing from the pro-Russian separatist region of South Ossetia, focus of a 10-day conflict formally ended by a French-brokered ceasefire. But Russia's defence ministry said no pullback had begun and the commander might be referring to preparations.

Originally posted by Rentor
reply to post by -Rugged Shark-

 

That link right there confirms this[

08:26 – General Alarm was declared in 71st Tank Battalion of the Russian army, stationed in Tskhinvali. The Battalion is now heading towards Gori. As of now, they are in the village of Karaleti.

Thanks, now we know what really is going on

Originally posted by -Rugged Shark-
Gorbachev: Russia had no choice in S.Ossetia

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Russia had no choice but to launch a counterattack to Georgia's offensive in breakaway South Ossetia, but it is still possible to find a political solution to the crisis.

"What happened on the night of August 7 is beyond comprehension," Gorbachev said in an article The Guardian published on Wednesday. "The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas."

source

The Russo-Georgian War and the Balance of Power


The Russian invasion of Georgia has not changed the balance of power in Eurasia. It simply announced that the balance of power had already shifted. The United States has been absorbed in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as potential conflict with Iran and a destabilizing situation in Pakistan. It has no strategic ground forces in reserve and is in no position to intervene on the Russian periphery.

Federal Security Service played major role in Russian-Georgian war

Stratfor, a private online publisher of geopolitical intelligence, pays attention to the fact that in the months before the Russian-Georgian war, Tbilisi complained that Russians were increasing their intelligence operations inside Georgia and its two secessionist regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The analysts of the website conclude that Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) have heavy influence on Russian military operations in Georgia and had played perhaps the majot in the campaign’s strategic planning. Stratfor notes that in thrusts to cities of Gori and Senaki, the Russian military has appeared to have pushed forward and retreated a number of times. It seems that the military was playing the part of keeping pressure on Tbilisi by pushing in and through Gori, but also pulling back in order to give Moscow deniability when it served the Kremlin, analysts suggest. They also mark vigorous propaganda efforts by the Russian side — “complete with the use of US reporters embedded with Russian forces and Russian reporters at Washington press conferences” — that could indicate that the FSB’s role in planning and execution was more significant. The FSB is willing to make bold moves like invading Georgia, but the entire campaign was fought in a way that would minimize political fallout and ensure that other countries would not get involved — something the Russian military has no experience in doing. At the same time, Stratfor remind of a long and volatile history of simply not getting along or trusting each other for the Russian military and the FSB. Putin has placed former security personnel in many key military and defense posts, keeping the military subservient to him while looking at how best to reshape the military into a tool useful to the Kremlin, analysts conclude.

The Turkish Airlines (THY) has resumed flights between Istanbul to Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia, which it had temporarily stopped on August 9 after clashes erupted in South Ossetia, Dogan News Agency reported on Saturday.

Originally posted by Vitchilo

Brzezinski, the guy hates russia like it's not even possible.