Russian Jet Shots Down a Georgian Drone

[SteveH]

Thank the Lord it was an Unmanned Drone,Watch the Onboard Video Footage.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7420130.stm
 
UN backs Georgia over drone claim 
 
Georgia said its pictures showed a MiG approaching the drone
A Russian jet did shoot down an unmanned Georgian drone over the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia last month, UN monitors say.

The jet flew back into Russian airspace after the attack, a UN report says.

Russia has denied the charges - even though Georgia's defence ministry released video appearing to show a Russian MiG-29 shooting down the drone.

Tensions over Abkhazia have soared, with Georgia and Russia accusing each other of a military build-up.

Moscow accuses Georgia of preparing to invade its breakaway region, where many residents hold Russian passports.

Georgia says Russia is preparing to annex the region.



Georgia's air force commander shows footage that allegedly shows a Russian aircraft shooting down the Georgian plane

Georgia accused Moscow of an "act of international aggression" after the drone was shot down on 20 April.

It released video, which it said was recorded by the drone itself, of a fighter plane approaching it and then launching a missile in its direction. The picture then went dead.

A Russian air force spokesman said the claim was "nonsense", while Abkhaz rebels said they had downed the drone.

They have since claimed to have shot down several more.   

But a report by UN monitors based in Abkhazia, released on Monday, said radar records showed the plane had flown into Russian airspace after the attack, and with no "compelling evidence to the contrary, this leads to the conclusion that the aircraft belonged to the Russian air force".

Russia's defence ministry rejected the UN's findings.

However, the report also criticised Georgia for operating reconnaissance flights over Abkhazia, which it said breached the terms of the ceasefire deal that ended the Abkhaz war of the early 1990s.

On the same day, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent greetings to Georgia on its independence day, and expressed a wish for "constructive co-operation between our countries".

"I sincerely wish peace and prosperity to the Georgian people, with which we have century-old ties of friendship and spiritual kinship," his message said.
 

[SteveH]

Russia accused of looking for a fight over Georgia and Ukraine
 Moscow is fiercely opposed to Nato replacing it in the Crimea after its lease to keep the Black Sea Fleet there expires.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4023082.ece

Tony Halpin, Moscow
Russia was accused yesterday of stoking separatist tensions as part of a campaign to prevent the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine joining Nato.

Georgia said that Russia was arming rebels in the breakaway region of Abkhazia to provoke a war and scupper its bid to join the military alliance.

Vano Merabishvili, the country's Interior Minister, said that Russia was pushing Abkhazia into confrontation and providing the separatists with weapons worth millions of dollars.

“The Russians are forcing the Abkhaz to prepare for war,” he told the newspaper Kommersant, adding that the objective was “to guarantee Georgia does not get into Nato. If there is a war and there is a single shot from the Georgian side, Georgia will never become a member of Nato,” he added.

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Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, accused Georgia of seeking confrontation with Moscow. Speaking at an Arctic summit in Greenland, Mr Lavrov said: “I cannot understand what they are after except performing some kind of function of constantly provoking Russia.”

Abkhazia broke away from Georgia after a war in the 1990s and most of its residents now have Russian passports. Moscow infuriated Georgia last month by strengthening economic ties with the region. Tensions have soared in recent weeks with both sides admitting that they have been close to war. A UN report concluded this week that a Russian fighter shot down a Georgian spy drone over Abkhazia in April.

Moscow also angered Ukraine by declaring that it wanted to keep a naval base in the Crimea despite an agreement to withdraw by May 28, 2017. The Ukrainian President, Viktor Yushchenko, insists that the Russian Black Sea Fleet must leave the port of Sevastopol on time.

Russia's naval base in Sevastopol was established in the 18th century by Catherine the Great. After the collapse of the Soviet Union Russia was allowed to retain its fleet at the port under a 20-year lease agreement with Ukraine that was signed in 1997.

Vladimir Dorokhin, Russia's special envoy on the Black Sea Fleet, said yesterday that Moscow did not want to leave. He told journalists: “We have never concealed our willingness to keep our presence in Sevastopol after 2017. We don't understand this haste. Why do they think we need nine years for the fleet's withdrawal? Why not fifteen years or five, or four? In the end, this is our fleet, yes? So this must be our headache.”

The issue is sensitive because most residents in Sevastopol are pro-Russian. Ukraine accused Yuri Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow, of undermining its sovereignty and barred him from the country after he declared that Russia had “a lawful right” to reclaim the port this month.

The bid for Nato membership by Ukraine has heightened tensions about the future of the port. Russia is opposed to the Western military alliance replacing it in the Crimea and the former President, Vladimir Putin, has threatened to aim nuclear missiles at Ukraine if it joins Nato.

“Ukraine has the legitimate right to adopt any decisions it deems important, but they should not run counter to our national interests or make us give them up,” Mr Dorokhin said.

Dmitri Rogozin, Russia's envoy to Nato, said that membership for Georgia and Ukraine was a “red line” issue. He added: “If Nato crosses this red line, relations will not only be spoilt but they will change drastically.”

[SteveH]

Russia army suicides cause alarm
 
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7425694.stm

Conditions are notoriously harsh for new recruits in the Russian army
Almost an entire battalion of Russian soldiers committed suicide last year, the country's chief military prosecutor has said.

A total of 341 military personnel killed themselves in 2007, a reduction of 15% on the previous year.

But Sergei Fridinsky said the numbers were worrying and called for a national strategy to prepare men for service.

Bullying, often extremely violent, is rife in the army and is the most common reason for suicide.

"Almost a battalion of military servicemen - 341 people - were irrevocably lost in the past year as a result of suicide," Mr Fridinsky said.

The BBC's Russia analyst, Steven Eke, says dedovshchina - literally, rule of the elders, a culturally specific, often very violent, form of bullying, is cited as the most frequent trigger for young soldiers taking their own lives.

Conditions of military service - compulsory for one year for Russian men - are so harsh that many parents and young men offer bribes to avoid getting conscripted.

Yet Mr Fridinsky said that about half of the suicides were among professional, contract-based soldiers, who would not face this kind of bullying.

He suggested that Russia use the experience of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan to help their troops deal with the psychological trauma of combat.
 

[SteveH]

U.S. Army suicides highest in 2007
Thu May 29, 2008 9:47pm

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2928543120080530?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
 
powered by  Sphere"We see a lot of things that are going on in the war which do contribute," said Army psychiatrist Col. Elspeth Ritchie.

She pointed specifically to long months away from home, the horrors of combat, the ready availability of loaded weapons and the high activity levels of current Army operations.

"All of those together we think are part of what may contribute, especially if somebody's having difficulties already," she said.

While 24 percent of cases occurred among soldiers sent to a combat theater for the first time, only 7 percent involved soldiers who had been deployed two or more times. Twenty-six percent had never been deployed.

Forty-three percent of suicides occurred after soldiers had returned to their home station.

But officials said the suicide rate for the Army remained below a civilian rate of 19.5 suicides per 100,000 people in the general population.

Army rate stood at 18.8 suicides per 100,000 regular active duty troops and at 16.8 per 100,000 when active duty National Guard and Reserve members were included in the total.

Not included in the statistics were 53 suicides last year among National Guardsmen and Reservists who were not on active duty.

[SteveH]

Russia army unit sent to Abkhazia 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7429354.stm
 
Russia is sending a unit from the army's railway force to the breakaway province of Abkhazia, the country's defence ministry has said.

The 300 unarmed troops are needed to help carry out repairs on the network, said the head of Abkhazia's railways.

The move has been denounced by Georgia which says Russia is planning a military intervention in the province.

Tensions between the states have been high since April, when a UN report said Russia shot down a Georgian drone.

Russian authorities insisted the plane was shot down over Abkhazia by Abkhaz rebels.

'Aggressive' action

Russian defence ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said the deployment was part of the humanitarian aid to Abkhazia envisioned by former President Vladimir Putin.

 ABKHAZIA'S BITTER WAR
The Abkhaz minority demanded independence from Georgia after the collapse of the USSR in 1991
Several thousand people were killed before Georgian forces were driven out in 1993
About 250,000 Georgians were displaced by the fighting

"Work to restore road and rail communications and infrastructure has been organised in which units and special equipment of the Russian Railway Troops (without weaponry) are taking part," he said.

But Georgia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze called the deployment an "aggressive" step.

"We view this as yet another aggressive step by Russia aimed against the territorial integrity of Georgia," he said.

"They are strengthening their military infrastructure in order to start intervention in Georgia."

Stately precedent

Last month, Moscow accused Georgia of preparing to invade Abkhazia.

Russia has kept a peacekeeping force in the province and South Ossetia under an agreement made following wars in the 1990s, when the regions broke away from Tbilisi and formed links with Moscow.

There are around 2,000 Russians posted in Abkhazia, and about 1,000 in South Ossetia.

Many in Abkhazia believe that Kosovo's announcement of independence from Serbia in February provides a precedent for it to be recognised as an individual state.

Although the province has its own flag and postage stamps, it is not internationally recognised.

 

[SteveH]

Defence minister denies rumours about sending peacekeepers to Abkhazia,

http://ukraine-observer.com/index.php?c=1746

KYIV, May 29: Ukrainian political leaders have not taken any decision to send Ukrainian peacekeepers to the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone, Defence Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov said at the presentation of a photo exhibition, which was opened today in Kyiv's Central House of Officers. There are relevant international and internal legal procedures to do this, Yekhanurov told journalists.
Commenting on the possible consequences of Ukraine's participation in the settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, Yekhanurov said that the Defence Ministry does not judge the expediency of such a decision but only fulfil the commander-in-chief's orders.
At the same time, Ukrainian personnel have huge experience and are ready to fulfil peacekeeping tasks in any part of the world, the minister said.

[SteveH]

Nato warns Russia over Abkhazia
 
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7434516.stm

Russia has about 2,000 peacekeepers in Abkhazia
Nato's secretary general has demanded that Russia withdraw troops it sent to the disputed breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia last week.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer accused Russia of breaching Georgia's sovereignty by sending in military railway personnel.

Mr de Hoop Scheffer said the Russian move was "contributing to instability in what is already a volatile area".

Abkhazia broke away from Georgia in a war in the early 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

 

Russia announced on Saturday that it was sending 300 members of an unarmed unit from the army's railway force to the province to help carry out repairs on the network, labelling the move a humanitarian effort.

Georgia responded that Russia is planning a military intervention in the province.

Nato aspirations

"These forces should be withdrawn, and both Russia and Georgia should engage quickly in a high-level and open dialogue to de-escalate tensions," Mr de Hoop Scheffer said.

 ABKHAZIA'S BITTER WAR
The Abkhaz minority demanded independence from Georgia after the collapse of the USSR in 1991
Several thousand people were killed before Georgian forces were driven out in 1993
About 250,000 Georgians were displaced by the fighting

Georgia, which hopes to join Nato, has accused Russia of propping up separatists in the region with a peacekeeping force.

Tensions have been high since Moscow announced in April that it was establishing formal ties with the separatists.

Adding to those tensions is the release of a UN report that said Russia shot down a Georgian drone.

Russian authorities insisted the plane was shot down over Abkhazia by Abkhaz rebels.

Russia has kept a peacekeeping force in the province and South Ossetia under an agreement made following wars in the 1990s, when the regions broke away from Georgia and formed links with Moscow.

There are around 2,000 Russians posted in Abkhazia, and about 1,000 in South Ossetia.

Many in Abkhazia believe that Kosovo's announcement of independence from Serbia in February provides a precedent for it to be recognised as an individual state.

Although the province has its own flag and postage stamps, it is not internationally recognised
 

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