After a reported shooting near a motorcade taking Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and visiting Polish President Lech Kaczynski to the Ossetian border, the Georgian government issued a statement claiming Russian soldiers fired the shots from 30 meters away.
President Saakashvili said the attack was aimed at the two leaders, and underscored the “unpredictable people” the Russian [...]
Amnesty International has issued a comprehensive new report on the August war between Russia and Georgia in which it details concerns regarding serious human rights violations and urges an investigation into the conduct of all parties.
Serious accusations were once again aimed at the Georgian military, who is again reported to have launch “indiscriminate attacks” during [...]
Growing doubts about the government’s actions in the August war with Russia, which destroyed much of Georgia’s military, as well as residual anger over last year’s anti-opposition crackdown seem palpable today as over 10,000 members of the opposition rallied in the streets of Tbilisi demanding new parliamentary and presidential elections.
Newly available reports by independent military [...]
Ever since the Georgian shelling of Tskhinvali sparked its brief August war with Russia, both sides have claimed loudly and consistently that the other has committed war crimes. This has included over 3,000 complaints filed with the European Court of Human Rights regarding action in South Ossetia. The complaints have largely been shrugged off by [...]
Updated 10/15 11:40 AM EST
Peace talks planned for today in Geneva between Russia and Georgia have broken down after Russia refused to attend. Abkhazian Foreign Minister Sergei Chamba says there will now be two separate Geneva meetings, one for Russia and its allies and another for the Georgians.
Russian negotiators said they thought the talks should [...]
With tensions between the two nations still high after last month’s brief war, Georgian Interior Minister Shota Utiashvili claimed today that his nation has shot down a Russian reconnaissance drone. He said the incident occurred near the town of Gori, and speculated that the drone was “patrolling the territory where the Baku-Supsa pipeline runs.”
Russia’s Defense [...]
The Crimean Parliament voted today 79-8 to press the Ukrainian government to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It seems highly unlikely that the Ukrainian government will act on the call given the collapse of its coalition government and the strongly anti-Russian sentiment of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.
The move would also have serious [...]
Last week, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili claimed to have presented “very solid proof” to the European Union that the Russians instigated last month’s brief conflict. Today, we finally have this evidence available for public scrutiny. It comes in the form of phone calls intercepted by Georgia before the war began.
The phone calls refer to Russian [...]
In a high profile visit to Tbilisi, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer reiterated the alliance’s backing for Georgia in the aftermath of its brief August war with Russia. The NATO visit is seen as an important step towards Georgia’s eventual membership in the alliance, though reservations about Georgia’s democratic credentials in light of [...]
The Pentagon is sending a team to Georgia to assess the state of its military in the wake of last month’s brief war with Russia, a move likely to exacerbate tensions with Russia even further. Though the team is only authorized to determine Georgia’s military requirements, it is seen as the first step toward a [...]
