Medvedev: Russian Military Operation in Ossetia
Source: Alalam.ir, 9-8-2008
MOSCOW--Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday his country's peacekeepers had begun a military operation against Georgian forces in South Ossetia.
Medvedev's remarks were quoted by Russia's ITAR-TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies, speaking at a Kremlin meeting with Russia's defense minister and the chief of Russia's armed forces.
He said Russia's "peacekeepers and units subordinate to them are now carrying out an operation to force the Georgian side to peace".
The head of Georgia's National Security Council said Georgia is engaged in "fierce fighting" with Russian forces in the breakaway region.
"Fierce fighting with Russian aggressors is ongoing," security council head Alexander Lomaya said.
The report came as the UN Security Council failed Friday in a second attempt in less than 24 hours, to agree on a course of action to stop the escalating violence in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Russia and its pro-West neighbor Georgia engaged in fierce fighting Saturday in the disputed region of South Ossetia, reports said, as the international community scrambled to prevent an all-out war.
Georgian forces early Saturday launched the latest in a series of artillery attacks on Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway Georgian region, a south Ossetian government spokeswoman said. Russian forces said they had counterattacked.
Fierce clashes between Russian and Georgian troops in the southern suburbs of Tskhinvali were reported by Russian news agencies during the night.
Georgia said it was under Russian aerial bombardment in what the country's UN Ambassador Irakli Alasania described as "a full-scale military invasion."
On Friday in New York, there was consensus among the 15 members of the UN Security Council that there should be a cessation of hostilities, but when it came to crafting a statement on the subject there was difficulty in finding agreement on the right words.
Belguim's Ambassador Jan Grauls, who is council president this month, told reporters that some members needed more time.
"This negotiation is an ongoing process -- it has not come to a halt tonight. And will be resumed tomorrow in the course of the morning," he said.
Some diplomats also cited the fluid situation on the ground. During the meeting, Georgia's ambassador told the council that he had just received word that Russian bombers were attacking more targets in Georgia and another breakaway republic, Abkhazia.
He said Georgian government buildings in Tblisi were being evacuated because they anticipated more attacks.
The heavy fighting erupted Thursday, when Georgia tried to reestablish control over parts of South Ossetia, which has been under separatist control since the early 1990s.
Georgia says the move was to suppress gunfire and shelling coming from South Ossetian villages into Georgian towns.
An overnight meeting of the Security Council failed to find a way to stop the fighting, and Friday morning, Russian troops entered the disputed region saying they wanted to reinforce their peacekeepers and protect South Ossetian civilians -- many of whom hold Russian nationality.
Russia's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow would not allow to go unpunished the deaths of their compatriots, and called Georgia's actions "ethnic cleansing."
"How else can we call it when hospitals are being destroyed, schools, residential areas, when scores of thousands of refugees are leaving the republic?," he said.
US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad repeated Washington's call for an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of Russian forces from its ally's territory.
"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," he said.
Ambassador Churkin said Moscow does not object to a ceasefire, but that a serious political analysis of the situation is necessary and certain demands must be fulfilled, "otherwise a more dangerous situation could result".
The US, the European Union and the OSCE were preparing to send a joint delegation to Georgia to try to broker a ceasefire, the EU said Friday.
As fighting continued, both sides said they had the upper hand.
"Georgian forces are controlling the entire territory of South Ossetia except Java," a city north of Tskhinvali, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in a televised address on Friday.
The rebels shortly afterwards announced that they were in control of the capital Tskhinvali, Interfax news agency reported.
Saakashvili said 30 people had died on the Georgian side, but separatist leader Eduard Kokoity put the overall death toll from Friday far higher.
"Slightly more than 1,400 people have died," Kokoity said, cited by Interfax. "This information will be checked, but this is the approximate number, based on information from relatives."
Early Saturday fighting was centered on the capital Tskhinvali.
"The Georgian side is right now firing on residential parts of Tskhinvali," South Ossetian government spokeswoman Irina Gagloyeva said in televised comments after nightfall.
"We responded to the last volley that hit Tskhinvali and our peacekeepers positions with a counter strike from our artillery and tanks," said Russian Ground Forces spokesman Igor Konashenkov, speaking on Russian television.
In a claim that Moscow denied, Georgia's interior ministry said five Russian aircraft had been shot down.
The Russian military said in a statement that more than 10 Russian peacekeepers had been killed in Tskhinvali as Georgian ordnance slammed into their barracks.
Other Georgian officials said that Russian planes on Friday had bombed near a military base in Vaziani, a military airport in Marneuli, the port of Poti and a railway junction and an airport in Senaki. There was no immediate reaction from Russian forces.
President Saakashvili on Saturday was preparing to declare a state of emergency, said a senior administration official Alexander Lomaia.
Authorities have evacuated the presidential building and other government offices in the capital Tbilisi amid fears of Russian bombardment, Lomaia said.
MOSCOW--Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday his country's peacekeepers had begun a military operation against Georgian forces in South Ossetia.
Medvedev's remarks were quoted by Russia's ITAR-TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies, speaking at a Kremlin meeting with Russia's defense minister and the chief of Russia's armed forces.
He said Russia's "peacekeepers and units subordinate to them are now carrying out an operation to force the Georgian side to peace".
The head of Georgia's National Security Council said Georgia is engaged in "fierce fighting" with Russian forces in the breakaway region.
"Fierce fighting with Russian aggressors is ongoing," security council head Alexander Lomaya said.
The report came as the UN Security Council failed Friday in a second attempt in less than 24 hours, to agree on a course of action to stop the escalating violence in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Russia and its pro-West neighbor Georgia engaged in fierce fighting Saturday in the disputed region of South Ossetia, reports said, as the international community scrambled to prevent an all-out war.
Georgian forces early Saturday launched the latest in a series of artillery attacks on Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway Georgian region, a south Ossetian government spokeswoman said. Russian forces said they had counterattacked.
Fierce clashes between Russian and Georgian troops in the southern suburbs of Tskhinvali were reported by Russian news agencies during the night.
Georgia said it was under Russian aerial bombardment in what the country's UN Ambassador Irakli Alasania described as "a full-scale military invasion."
On Friday in New York, there was consensus among the 15 members of the UN Security Council that there should be a cessation of hostilities, but when it came to crafting a statement on the subject there was difficulty in finding agreement on the right words.
Belguim's Ambassador Jan Grauls, who is council president this month, told reporters that some members needed more time.
"This negotiation is an ongoing process -- it has not come to a halt tonight. And will be resumed tomorrow in the course of the morning," he said.
Some diplomats also cited the fluid situation on the ground. During the meeting, Georgia's ambassador told the council that he had just received word that Russian bombers were attacking more targets in Georgia and another breakaway republic, Abkhazia.
He said Georgian government buildings in Tblisi were being evacuated because they anticipated more attacks.
The heavy fighting erupted Thursday, when Georgia tried to reestablish control over parts of South Ossetia, which has been under separatist control since the early 1990s.
Georgia says the move was to suppress gunfire and shelling coming from South Ossetian villages into Georgian towns.
An overnight meeting of the Security Council failed to find a way to stop the fighting, and Friday morning, Russian troops entered the disputed region saying they wanted to reinforce their peacekeepers and protect South Ossetian civilians -- many of whom hold Russian nationality.
Russia's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow would not allow to go unpunished the deaths of their compatriots, and called Georgia's actions "ethnic cleansing."
"How else can we call it when hospitals are being destroyed, schools, residential areas, when scores of thousands of refugees are leaving the republic?," he said.
US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad repeated Washington's call for an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of Russian forces from its ally's territory.
"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," he said.
Ambassador Churkin said Moscow does not object to a ceasefire, but that a serious political analysis of the situation is necessary and certain demands must be fulfilled, "otherwise a more dangerous situation could result".
The US, the European Union and the OSCE were preparing to send a joint delegation to Georgia to try to broker a ceasefire, the EU said Friday.
As fighting continued, both sides said they had the upper hand.
"Georgian forces are controlling the entire territory of South Ossetia except Java," a city north of Tskhinvali, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in a televised address on Friday.
The rebels shortly afterwards announced that they were in control of the capital Tskhinvali, Interfax news agency reported.
Saakashvili said 30 people had died on the Georgian side, but separatist leader Eduard Kokoity put the overall death toll from Friday far higher.
"Slightly more than 1,400 people have died," Kokoity said, cited by Interfax. "This information will be checked, but this is the approximate number, based on information from relatives."
Early Saturday fighting was centered on the capital Tskhinvali.
"The Georgian side is right now firing on residential parts of Tskhinvali," South Ossetian government spokeswoman Irina Gagloyeva said in televised comments after nightfall.
"We responded to the last volley that hit Tskhinvali and our peacekeepers positions with a counter strike from our artillery and tanks," said Russian Ground Forces spokesman Igor Konashenkov, speaking on Russian television.
In a claim that Moscow denied, Georgia's interior ministry said five Russian aircraft had been shot down.
The Russian military said in a statement that more than 10 Russian peacekeepers had been killed in Tskhinvali as Georgian ordnance slammed into their barracks.
Other Georgian officials said that Russian planes on Friday had bombed near a military base in Vaziani, a military airport in Marneuli, the port of Poti and a railway junction and an airport in Senaki. There was no immediate reaction from Russian forces.
President Saakashvili on Saturday was preparing to declare a state of emergency, said a senior administration official Alexander Lomaia.
Authorities have evacuated the presidential building and other government offices in the capital Tbilisi amid fears of Russian bombardment, Lomaia said.
Trump: I Want to Talk to Putin
30 days ago
