Russian sources have now confirmed that a group of Georgian tanks has successfully penetrated the South Ossetian defense lines and have re-entered the southern section of Tskhinvali. This marks a major success for the Georgian forces. Russian sources also announced that elements of the 76th Airborne Division have been dispatched from Pskov to South Ossetia.
Dear friends, As per Murphy’s law my Internet connection is mostly down. Brighthouse will send a tech on Monday. I will try to post here in the short moments when it is back up but I cannot promise to maintain coverage of the war in Ossetia for the next three days. Ditto for answering emails. I apologize for this. Kind regards, The Saker
Georgian army may be tough nut for Russia to crack By Stefan Korshak for Deutsche Presse-Agentur via Monsters and Critics The war in the Caucasian province Ossetia may seem like an uneven contest between giant Russia and tiny Georgia – but on the battlefront things are a bit different. Georgia’s President President Mikheil Saakashvili, coming to office in the 2003 pro-democracy Rose Revolution, has with some help from the United
According to several sources Georgian tanks have re-entered the city of Tskhinvali and are now being engaged by Russian armored forces from the 58th Army contingent in South Ossetia.
Georgian TV has just shown footage of one dead Russian pilot and one wounded one. Georgian journalists were allowed inside the hospital where there Russian POW was treated and asked him what his mission had been. The Russian could barely speak, but he repeated twice “reconnaissance”. Some Georgian sources claim that not two, but five Russian aircraft were shot down. It could well be that the pilot was saying the
The Georgian war – minute by minute 13:16 GMT – Russia considers bringing the killing of peacekeepers to the international court – Foreign Ministry. 13:03 GMT – Tbilisi may ask the West for military aid – head of Georgia’s national security council. 12:53 GMT – Bush assures Medvedev he will help return the situation in South Ossetia to the sphere of diplomacy. 12:53 GMT – Georgian troops block 2,000 refugees
Georgian authorities have shut down the broadcast of Russian TV stations. They have also blocked the access to any website with the domain name ending in .ru Not coincidentally, the US government propaganda radio Voice of America has doubled its broadcasts in Georgian.
Click on the maps for detailed view
Here are some of the developments which I have learned so far: 1) Russia did admit that two of its military aircraft had been lost yesterday. This is rather baffling since the Georgian air defense capabilities are, according to Wikipedia, officially rather minimal: * 15 SA-11 * 38 SA-3 * 18 SA-8 * 35 ZSU-23-4 * 15 S-60 * 40 MT-LB with towed ZU-23-2 2) Abkhazian authorities have declared that
Russian and Georgian sources are reporting Russian Air Force strikes on Georgian military facilities throughout Georgia. The port of Poti has also reportedly been bombed. Several Georgian aircraft were destroyed on the Marneuli air base near the Georgian capital Tbilissi. The Vaziani military base (25 km from the capital) was also bombed. The airport of Bolnisi is reported “destroyed” by Georgian sources. In the meantime, Russian sources are reporting that
Russia Today reports: NATO encouraged Georgia Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has sent an official note to representatives of all member countries in Brussels in connection with Georgia’s military actions against South Ossetia. He’s calling on them not to support Mikhail Saakashvili. “Russia has already begun consultations with the ambassadors of the NATO countries and consultations with NATO military representatives will be held tomorrow,” Rogozin said. “We will caution
According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Condi Rice had three telephone conversations just today. Its pretty clear who the real parties to the conflict are, isn’t it?
This just in from Interfax (via Press TV): South Ossetian separatists say they are in complete control of the capital Tskhinvali more than 24 hours into a major Georgian military offensive. The statement was made by South Ossetian spokeswoman, Irina Gagloyeva on Friday, the Interfax news agency reported. “The entire city of Tskhinvali is currently controlled by units of South Ossetia’s defense forces… The Georgian side is trying to regain
Appeal to the Governments and peoples of the world! Please, help us stop genocide of the small people of the South Ossetia! The small country, which has been constantly destroying for 19 years by Georgian fascists.And the world community conceal all the atrocities of Georgia for the sake of geopolitical interest of the USA. Conflict resolution is completely in international law. However, the Georgian side skillfully uses methods of historical
Anti Georgian crackers have defaced the website of the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs leaving only some photos of Georgian President Saakashvili and Adolf Hitler. Click on the photo for a better view:
AP reports: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: “The United States calls for an immediate ceasefire to the armed conflict in Georgia’s region of South Ossetia,” Rice said in a statement. “We call on Russia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles, respect Georgia’s territorial integrity and withdraw its ground combat forces from Georgian soil.” You gotta be kiddin, Condi?!
by Ilya Kramnik for RIA-Novosti The very real possibility of full-scale war between Georgia and South Ossetia raises questions about its possible outcome. At present, the Georgian armed forces have more than 30,000 men, including 20,000 ground forces. They are equipped with more than 200 tanks, including 40 T-55s and 165 T-72s, which are currently being upgraded. Apart from tanks, the ground forces have 200 combat armored vehicles, including about
I am currently following the events in South Ossetia and the situation is developing very rapidly. Here is a summary of what has happened so far. 1) Georgian special forces have taken over 11 villages around the South Ossetian capital Tshinvali. They then proceeded to take over several high points around the city from were a massive artillery barrage was initiated. 2) Artillery strikes were supported by airstrikes. Images shown
Note: I usually do not post materials from the corporate press on this blog, much less so one coming from, of all things, from the Time/CNN cesspool. Still, this article was mailed to be my a friend (thanks M.!) and it is interesting. Take a look (my comments are italicized): The Mystery Behind a Syrian Murder By Nicholas Blanford / Beirut Syria on Wednesday broke its silence over the recent
By Afshin Rattansi for Press TV The following is Press TV’s exclusive full-length interview with former Bosnian foreign minister Mohammad Sacirbey. Press TV: I noticed that Richard Holbrooke is saying that it is an outrageous fabrication. What did Karadzic mean by a deal with Richard Holbrooke? Sacirbey: I have actually been aware of the deal from almost the day it was made. In the summer of 1996, Karadzic withdrew from
