Unable to restore control over Abkhazia and South Ossetia with use of force, the Georgian army is now focused on defensive measures, said Russian colonel general, Anatoly Nogovitsyn, who is deputy chief of staff of Moscow-led security bloc of seven former Soviet republics known as the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Nogovitsyn, who during the Georgia-Russia war two years ago was deputy chief of staff of the Russian armed forces and acted as chief spokesman for the Russian military during the August war, is in Tskhinvali, where he was awarded with medal of honor by South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion in Tskhinvali on August 4, Nogovitsyn said, according to the website of breakaway region’s authorities: “After defeat in August, 2008, the Georgian leadership has come to the conclusion that it is impossible in the current conditions to forcefully restore control over Abkhazia and South Ossetia.”

“The Georgian leadership is in advance preparing for defensive operations in western and eastern Georgian. Major efforts are focused on Tbilisi and eastern Georgia,” he added.