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2007 Georgia missile incident

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File:2007 Georgia missile incident map.PNG
Georgia accused Russia of firing a missile in the village of Tsitelubani. Russia denied this accusation.

The 2007 Georgia missile incident refers to the landing of a missile in the Georgian-controlled village of Tsitelubani in the Gori district near the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone, some 65-km (40 miles) north-west of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, on August 7, 2007. Georgian officials said that two Russian fighter jets violated its airspace and fired a missile, which fell on the edge of a village but did not explode. Russia denied this allegation.

Background

Template:Georgia-Russia The missile incident occurred amids rising tensions between Georgia and Russia since the 2003 Rose Revolution, which brought Mikhail Saakashvili, a pro-western president to power.[1] Among others, his wish for Georgia to join NATO and the EU irked Russia as it marked a loss of Russian influence in the region. Since then, several crises, incidents and accusations have succeeded eachother: the 2004 Adjara crisis, the 2006 North Ossetia sabotages, the 2006 Russian ban of Moldovan and Georgian wines, the 2006 Kodori crisis, the 2006 Georgian-Russian espionage controversy and the March 2007 Georgia helicopter incident.

Incident

Vano Merabishvili, Georgia’s interior minister, said that two Sukhoi attack aircraft entered Georgian airspace from Russia at 7.30 pm on August 7 and fired at least one air-to-surface missile at the village of Tsitelubani.[2] The missile left a 16-foot crater in a field but failed to detonate. Sappers later defused the missile.

Views

Georgia

Georgian experts have identified the missile as a Soviet-designed Kh-58 ARM. The remains of the missile were destroyed by the Georgian authorities before its identity could be confirmed by the Joint Control Commission.[3] Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said the incident was part of a pattern of Russian aggression against its neighbors and urged European states to condemn Moscow. Georgia claimed to have radar evidence proving that the invading aircraft flew in from Russia and said that the strike had aimed, unsuccessfully, at destroying radar equipment recently installed near the South Ossetian conflict zone.[4][5] The Georgian experts suggested the pilot did not fire but jettisoned the missile and fled after friendly forces of South Ossetia mistakenly fired an anti-aircraft missile at his jet.[6]

Former President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze, said that during his time in office, Russian jets on a regular basis bombed Georgian forces during the wars in the 1990s when Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke from central government control. "I won't be revealing any great secrets if I say that that such violations of Georgia's air space and bombings were common during my presidency. But Russian forces never acknowledged any of this," Shevardnadze said.[7]

The Georgian opposition politicians Salome Zourabichvili and Shalva Natelashvili suggested that the Georgian authorities might have been behind the incident, intended as a provocation.[8][9]

South Ossetia

South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity described the incident as "a provocation staged by the Georgian side, aimed at discrediting Russia", claiming that another bomb fell in South Ossetia.[10] In his words, "a Georgian military plane crossed into South Ossetia on Monday, performed manoeuvres above Ossetian villages and dropped two bombs."[11]

Russia

Russia also denied the Georgian claim.[12] Later that day, Russia's foreign ministry said that Georgian jets may have fired the missile on their own territory as a way of provoking tensions in the region and derailing a session of the Joint Control Commission on Georgian-South Ossetian Conflict Resolution.[13] Georgia immediately denounced the claim as absurdity.

United States

The U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Matthew Bryza rejected the Russian allegations, advising Moscow to tone down its rhetoric on Georgia.[14]

Other

The Telegraph reports that some commentators suggested that a group of Kremlin hardliners were intent on provoking a military confrontation to provide an excuse to change the Russian constitution and allow Russian president Vladimir Putin to stay in power.[1] Alexei Malashenko, an expert on the Caucasus at the Moscow Carnegie Centre, said it was possible that this faction had ordered the firing of a dummy missile in a bid to fuel the crisis. But he said it was more likely that the missile attack could have been carried out by local Russian army units without the knowledge of the Russian government.
Stratfor, a private intelligence agency based in the United States speculates that "considering regional developments in the past few weeks, this "bomb" was far more likely a Georgian ploy than a Russian one. (And it is even more likely that it was accidentally dropped by an under-loved and under-maintained Georgian aircraft rather than deliberately targeted.)".[15]

Aftermath

OSCE report

According to the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the OSCE spokeswoman in Vienna, the OSCE mission reported "one aircraft flying from north-east" though the report has not yet been publicly released. The spokeswoman stressed that it was "an internal report that does not represent the position of the OSCE". The Georgian state minister Davit Bakradze added that "there is no other country than Russia to the north-east."

On August 17, 2007, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, appointed Croatian diplomat and ex-minister Miomir Žužul, "to be his personal representative in a mission to Georgia on (a) missile incident that took place on 6 August," alleged to be a Russian missile strike on Georgian territory. Žužul will reportedly travel to Georgia and the Russian Federation early on the week of August 20. He will reportedly be joined by the Charge d´Affaires of the Spanish Permanent Mission to the OSCE, Arturo Perez Martinez.[16][17]

UN Security Council

The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs tried to secure the holding of a UN Security Council session to discuss the incident and to encourage the international involvement into the investigation of the attack.[18] Former Georgian president Shevardnadze dismissed efforts to involve the United Nations, as Russia would use its veto as a permanent member of the Security Council to thwart any real investigation or criticism.[7]

On August 16, the United States, which backed Georgia's call for a special session, attempted to have the Security Council issue a statement on the alleged incident. Russia, however, blocked the move, calling it "premature."[19]

South Ossetia

On August 9, 2007, South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity announced that he intends to request that Russia deploys air-defense systems in the republic, to discourage any such future incidents.[20]

International investigation

On August 15, the group of defense specialists from the United States, Sweden, Latvia, and Lithuania, involved in the international investigation at Georgia's request, released their findings in Tbilisi. The group confirmed that the plane flew from Russia into Georgian airspace and back three times and described the missile as a Russian-designed KH-58, which is intended to take out radar systems. The team added that Georgian Air Force "does not possess aircraft equipped with or able to launch" that missile.

A team of Russian investigators also arrived in Georgia on August 16 to conduct its own probe.[21][22] Speaking at a news conference in Tbilisi, Russian ambassador Valery Kenyaikin said on August 16 that Moscow did not find the evidence of the international team convincing.[19] He also said the Russian team presented evidence that refuted the team's findings, commenting that: "The documents handed to the Georgian side show - and I hope prove - the absence of any information or elements [of information] testifying to the violation of Georgian airspace by Russia." A Russian Air Force official also claimed that Georgian authorities presented the Russian investigators with parts of several different missiles, some of which had traces of rust on them.[23]

A group of experts Britain, Poland, and Estonia corroborated the results of the previous international investigation that a military jet illegally entered its airspace from Russia and dropped or jettisoned a missile before flying back to Russia.[24]

New incident reported

On the official website of the Georgia's Foreign Ministry a statement was published that on August 21 a fighter jet flying from Russia twice violated Georgian airspace in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region.[24] It further reported that Georgian antiaircraft systems tracked the incursions and that an official note of protest demanding an explanation had been sent to Russia's Foreign Ministry. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Sedov denied the accusation.

References

  1. ^ a b Adrian Blomfield, "Analysis: Why would the Kremlin attack?" in The Telegraph, August 8, 2007, [1]
  2. ^ Adrian Blomfield, "Georgia: Russia fired missile at village" in The Telegraph, August 8, 2007, [2]
  3. ^ "Georgia hurried to destroy warhead of unexploded bomb: peace keepers". REGNUM News Agency. 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  4. ^ Report Gives Some Details on Missile Strike. Civil Georgia. August 9, 2007.
  5. ^ Russia and Georgia lock horns over missile.August 9, 2007.
  6. ^ Calm urged in Georgia, Russia in missile row. Reuters Canada. August 8, 2007.
  7. ^ a b Georgia: Russian peacekeepers violated mandate by obtaining new witness statement AP (via The International Herald Tribune), July 10, 2007.
  8. ^ "Georgia accuses Russia of provocation". Los Angeles Times. 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2007-08-09.
  9. ^ "Natelashvili considers Tsitelubani incident to be provocation planned by government". Imedi TV. 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2007-08-09.
  10. ^ "Georgia accuses Russia of bombing village". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
  11. ^ "Georgia accuses Russia of bombing village". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
  12. ^ Georgia Says Russian Jets Intruded. Guardian Unlimited, August 7, 2007.
  13. ^ "Russian Missile Reaches UN". Kommersant. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
  14. ^ U.S. tells Moscow to tone down rhetoric on Georgia. The Washington Post. August 7, 2007.
  15. ^ Georgia: A Bombing Whodunnit
  16. ^ OSCE Chairman appoints personal representative for mission to Georgia on missile incident. The OSCE Press release. August 17, 2007.
  17. ^ OSCE Appoints Envoy To Probe Georgia Missile. Defensenews.com. August 17, 2007.
  18. ^ "Georgia, Russia deadlocked over mystery missile strike". The Montreal Gazette. August 9, 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ a b "Russia Continues Investigation Of Georgian Missile Claim" in Radio Free Europe, August 17, 2007, [3]
  20. ^ Breakaway South Ossetia asks Russia for air defenses in conflict zone. RIA Novosti. August 9, 2007.
  21. ^ Experts Confirm Jet Entered Georgian Airspace From Russia. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, August 16, 2007.
  22. ^ Report from the International Group of Experts investigating the possible violations of Georgian airspace and the recovered missile near Tsitelubani, Georgia, 16 August 2007. Ministry of Defense of Georgia. August 16, 2007.
  23. ^ Georgia showing Russian experts parts of different missiles. Lenta.ru. August 17, 2007.
  24. ^ a b http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/08/bdc4d86e-e77a-406a-86a3-efaa1fc386ea.html
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