Crisis in South Ossetia

Bitter Fighting Continues in Caucuses

In the war between Russia and Georgia, intense fighting continued on Saturday. Both sides are accusing the other of "ethnic cleansing." Georgia is claiming that Russia tried to attack an important pipeline that delivers oil to the West and that civilians have been killed


Story from SPIEGEL ONLINE
Published: August 9, 2008


Despite the offer of a cease-fire by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, fighting continued unhindered between Russian and Georgian forces on Saturday in the breakaway province of South Ossetia.

Russian fighter jets on Saturday conducted up to five strikes on largely military targets near the Georgian city of Gori, located near South Ossetia. And Russian prepared to land troops on the Georgian coast in a development that could lead to an all-out war. Georgia also claimed that Russia had attempted to destroy an oil pipeline that is an important supply point for the West.

Georgian Economic Development Minister Ekaterina Sharashidze said Russian fighter jets targeted the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, but the attackers missed it. "This clearly shows that Russia has not just targeted Georgian economic outlets but international economic outlets in Georgia," she told reporters.

"Ethnic Cleansing"

Both sides accused the other of mass displacement. The secretary of the Georgian Security Council accused Russia soldiers of conducting "ethnic cleansing" of Georgians in South Ossetia. Meanwhile, in Brussels, Russian NATO Ambassador Dimitry Rogozin accused Georgia of committing "genocide" in the region.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew back from the Olympics in Beijing on Saturday afternoon for an unexpected visit to the Russian city of Vladikavkaz, where he planned to discuss the influx of refugees from the conflict in nearby South Ossetia, Russian wire services reported. According to Russian estimates, 30,000 South Ossetians have already fled into Russia territory.

Meanwhile, on Saturday afternoon the Kremlin demanded the full withdrawal of Georgian combat forces from South Ossetia. In a telephone call with United States President George W. Bush, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said "the only way out of the tragic crisis initiated by the Georgian leadership in Tbilisi is the withdrawal of its armed forced from the conflict zone," according to a Kremlin press release.

The conflict escalated on Friday after Georgian soldiers marched into South Ossetia in an effort to bring the separatists there under control. Russia started a counteroffensive the same day in order to support the Moscow-backed separatists. Russia then began attacking in the hardfought areas in South Ossetia as well as targets in Georgia.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili called for an "immediate cease-fire." The same day, Georgia's parliament approved a "state of war" across the country for the next two weeks, stopping short of issuing a declaration of war. "Russia has launched a full-scale military invasion of Georgia," Saakashvili said.

Saakashvili accused Russia of having prepared the conflict, which escalated on Friday, for months. He claimed Russian combat forces want to drive out "ethnic Georgians" -- not just in the province of South Ossetia, which is seeking independence from Georgia, but also in breakaway Abkhazia.

"Georgia will be willing to take the first steps provided there is no international vacuum and there is a serious international process," to solve the crisis, Saakashvili said.

The Georgian leader also criticized the international community. Months ago, he claimed, he informed his "partners and friends" that Russia was planning a war against Georgia. "We had the information, we had the analysis, but nobody wanted to listen to me," he said, claiming he had alerted both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier about the situation.

"A Dangerous Escalation"

Just after Saakashvili's press conference, US President George W. Bush also commented for the first time on the conflict, describing the situation as a "dangerous escalation" and saying the US was in contact with all sides in an effort to help find a peaceful solution. "Georgia," Bush said, "is a sovereign nation and its territorial integrity must be respected." Washington is Georgian President Saakashvili's closest ally.

On Saturday, Saakashvili claimed that Georgian combat forces had shot down 10 Russian fighter jets. Moscow, so far, has only admitted to having lost 2 planes.

Earlier in the day, the Russian army reported it had taken the South Ossetian provincial capital Tskhinvali and brought the city under its complete control - a report denied by officials in Tbilisi.

A Russian military spokesperson told the news agency Interfax that Moscow planned to "liberate" other regions through special deployments of Russian forces. The spokesman was referring to areas in the breakaway provinces that are controlled by self-named "Russian peacekeeping" forces. Prior to Friday's military conflict, Georgia controlled about one-third of South Ossetia.

The scope of casualties was still unclear late Saturday. Russia officials reported more than 1,500 dead in South Ossetia, as well as 13 Russian soldiers, but there has been no independent confirmation of these figures. And Georgian officials claimed 60 civilians had died in two apartment buildings bombed in Gori.

Russian President Medvedev said on Saturday morning that the job of the Russian army was to force the "Georgian side to accept peace" and to protect its citizens in South Ossetia, where most residents carry Russian passports.

International efforts to try to stop the fighting have so far produced no results. The US and the European Union have called for an immediate cessation of the fighting. And the United Nations, EU and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) all said they would send a group of negotiators to Georgia.

In New York, however, a second special session of the UN Security Council, of which Russia is a vetoholding member, failed to reach an agreement on a common declaration. The current Security Council chairman, Jan Grauls, said the body had suspended its deliberations until later Saturday. "A few members still need a little time," he said.

According to US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad, one reason for the collapsed talks was a demand by his Russian colleague Vitali Churkin for the restoration of the "status quo" in South Ossetia before the offensive began. For his part, Churkin accused "a few members of the Security Council" of silently tolerating the Georgian attacks on South Ossetia.

In the wake of the crisis, Georgia said Saturday it would withdraw its 35-athlete team from the Beijing Olympics.


(Published: 10.08.2008.)