About Civil.ge
Eng | Geo | Rus
Last updated: 10:55 - 1 May.'18
RSS
Mobile
Twitter
Facebook
Putin on Russian 'Plan of Repelling Georgia's Aggression'
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 8 Aug.'12 / 19:32

General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces had drawn up a plan of repelling Tbilisi’s possible attack on South Ossetia more than a year before the August, 2008 war and in addition was also training South Ossetian militias as part of this plan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on August 8.

During a joint news conference with his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sargsyan, after a meeting in Moscow, Putin was asked whether or not Russia had an action plan “in case of Georgia’s aggression against South Ossetia.”

“It’s not a secret that the plan was in place and the Russian side was acting in accordance to this plan,” Putin responded.

“The plan was prepared by the General Staff [of the Armed Forces] sometime in late 2006 or in the beginning of 2007. It was approved by me and agreed.”

“Moreover, as part of this plan training of South Ossetian militias was carried out,” he continued. “To say the truth, our military specialists though that it was somewhat useless in terms that it’s impossible [for militias] to resist regular army troops of any state, even of small state like Georgia. Nevertheless, it turned out that these people [trained militias] proved very much needed and they were defending their homeland very courageously. For three days they, before the Russian troops arrived, [South Ossetian militias] together with our peacekeepers were repelling push by the Georgian units. So they [the South Ossetian militias] played their role. In frames of this plan [military] hardware was also mobilized so on and so forth. So there is no secret about it; we had already been talking about it.”

This question about whether Russia had a plan or not was asked in the context of allegations voiced by Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, who served as Russia’s Chief of the General Staff until two months before the August war, who claimed that Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s President at the time of the August war, acted indecisively and delayed a response to Georgia’s attack on Tskhinvali. The allegation was voiced by Baluyevsky in a documentary about the August war, which has appeared recently on Internet. According to Baluyevsky “until receiving a kick from Vladimir Vladimirovich” Putin, who at that time was the Prime Minister, Medvedev and his associates “were afraid of something, to put it very mildly”. The documentary, which criticizes Medvedev for his delay to give a command of launching military operation, praises Putin for personally taking the lead in overseeing military operation against Georgia.

PM Medvedev said during his visit in Tskhinvali on August 8, that a decision to provide military help to South Ossetia was done in “a timely” manner.

Latest News
01 May.'18 10:55
We Have Moved to a New Platform
Direct Your Bookmarks to https://civil.ge.
29 Apr.'18 03:54
Ruling Party Candidate Wins MP By-Elections
Givi Chichinadze will represent Vani and Khoni single-mandate constituency in the Parliament of Georgia.
28 Apr.'18 09:40
Polls Open for Vani and Khoni MP By-Elections
48,123 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in Vani and Khoni single-mandate constituency.
27 Apr.'18 17:23
State Dept’s Europe Affairs Point Man to Visit Tbilisi
Wess Mitchell will meet senior government officials and address the NATO-Georgia Public Diplomacy Forum.
27 Apr.'18 13:45
In Quotes: Georgian Politicians on Ex-PM Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Comeback
Bidzina Ivanishvili will be approved as the Georgian Dream party chairman at the upcoming convention.
26 Apr.'18 18:15
SG Jens Stoltenberg: Georgia NATO’s ‘Very Close’ Partner
The NATO Secretary General says Foreign Ministers meeting tomorrow will recognize the country’s progress.
26 Apr.'18 14:24
Ex-PM Ivanishvili to Chair Georgian Dream Party
Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said Ivanishvili was ‘best equipped’ to add new dynamism to the party.
26 Apr.'18 11:12
Lawmaker Proposes Criminal Liability for ‘Insult of Religious Feelings’
The parliamentary human rights committee decided to set up a working group for scrutinizing the draft law.
25 Apr.'18 17:21
New Abkhaz Government Head Appointed
Gennady Gagulia has served as the Abkhaz “prime minister” twice - in 1995-1997, and 2002-2003.
25 Apr.'18 14:43
Watchdog Improves Georgia’s Press Freedom Ranking
None of the countries of the former Soviet Union (except the Baltics) are ranked ahead of Georgia.

About Civil Georgia
Civil.Ge © 2001-2025, Daily News Online
Registered office: 2 Dolidze Str, 4-th Floor.
79