Financing the Georgian Army – Foreign Investment Galore

Following the annihilation of the Georgian Army during the South Ossetian War, NATO and other allies of Georgia have promised Georgia to help rebuild its full military potential. Having Western say in the Caucasus region seems to be the priority of the Western world.

Captured Georgian Military Equipment

The Russian military officials have reported that they captured around 150 military units, 65 of them are tanks. 44 tanks have been brought back to Russia, the rest were destroyed because they were either unfit for use or of old modifications. Georgian Armed Forces had 230-240 tanks in use before the conflict was started. Most of those tanks were modified by an Israeli firm Elbit Systems into T-72-SIM-1. During the fighting, the Russian troops also captured 5 anti-aircraft missile systems 9K33 “Osa”, 15 BMP-2, numerous 122-mm towed howitzers D-30, American armored personnel carriers, HUMVEE’s, and artillery systems of Czech design. According to Lieutenant-General Golovchenko of the North Caucasus Military District, one of the captured anti-aircraft systems registered 3 launches.

Military Bases in Gori, Senaki, and Poti

The West has condemned the Russian military for moving into Georgian territory, primarily into the port of Poti and towns of Senaki and Gori. the Georgian military completely abandoned their military bases in all of those cities. Saakashvili raised panic and evacuated civilians out of those areas, saying that the Russian and Ossetian forces will kill the civilians as a form of revenge for what the Georgian military has done to Tskhinval (Tskhinvali with an “i” at the end is a Georgian renamed city. After Medvedev declared the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia independent, the “i” was dropped, to return the city its rightful ancient name”).

The goal of the Russian military operation was not to destroy the Georgian economy, which was not good before the war already. The goal was to demilitarize the Georgian Army and to thwart Georgian military potential in the region. A lot of the captured military equipment the Russians took from Gori. 15 T-72-SIM-1 tanks, dozens of armored fighting vehicles, and artillery systems along with their ammo were captured. Part of the arsenal found in Gori was destroyed, part was taken to Russia. The explosions that the Saakashvili said were Russian bombings of Gori were actually Russian engineers destroying Georgian military equipment.

From the military bases in Senaki, Russian troops captured 1728 assault weapons. 764 American M4 carbines, 28 M-40 machine guns, and 754 various modifications of the AK. Western Media sources also say that Russian military has also captured 15 Georgian vessels, among them torpedo boats.

According to the representative of the Russian Peacekeeping Force in the Caucasus, there was enough high-caliber ammunition in Senaki to level all of Caucasus. On the base at Senaki, for the time of the conflict, the Georgian 2nd Infantry Brigade was stationed. Georgian forces left Senaki after the Russian Air Force carried out air strikes against the air field by the base.

Anatoliy Nagovitsin, the commanding General of the Russian Forces in the conflict said that 4000 assault weapons were captured, that’s not counting the ones destroyed and other military equipment captured. The American and Georgian governments have requested Russia to return the captured weapons. The Russian officials have said that they have no intent on returning the weapons, as they are captured during military operations.

Foreign Investment in the Georgian Military

According to the official statement presented by Lieutenant-General Golovchenko, there is written documentation captured by the Russian Forces that the tanks of the 1st Georgian Infantry Brigade (played biggest part in the storming of Tskhinval) underwent partial modifications in 2002 and complete modernizations in 2007 in Lvov and and other cities in Ukraine. Same thing with the BMP-2’s.

From official statements and reports to the U.N. from Ukraine, since 1999 Kiev has delivered 150 units of heavy tanks and equipment of Georgia. In the first report in 1999, among 11 other nations, Georgia was also listed as a buyer of a Rocket-Cruiser “Konotop” from Ukraine. Then, there was a four year gap in military eqiupment sales from Ukraine to Georgia. In 2004, Georgia received 6 self-propelled howitzers 2S3 “Akatsiya”. In 2005, after Yuschenko came to power and board of directors of UkrSpetsExport changed(responsible for Ukrainian weapons export), military equipment sales from Ukraine to Georgia increased dramatically. In 2005 alone, Georgia bought 15 T-72 MBTs, 12 BMP-2s, 10 BTR-80 APCs, 6 self-propelled howitzers 2S3s, 6 MI-24 “Hind” attack helicopters, and 2 MI-8 transport helicopters. In 2006 no sales were made from Ukraine to Georgia. However, Georgia still received 2 air-radar vehicles 36D6-M to control the air space around Tbilisi.

In 2007, Georgia Ukraine sold 74 T-72 MBTs, 6 BTS-5B heavy armored tracked towing vehicles, 2 self-propelled howitzers 2S7 “Pion”, 8 training aircraft L-39 (can be fitted to serve as regualr ground-attack planes). Ina Georgian official statement to the U.N., it says that it bought 5 units of the self-propelled howitzers 2S7 “Pion”, not 2, like Ukraine states.  Also, according to the Georgian version of the document, they also acquired one Anti-Air Mobile System “Buk” and 48 Anti-Tank Guided Missiles “Kombat”. Also in 2007 Tbilisi said that it bought assault weapons from Ukraine.

Looking at this statistic, how Georgia financed all of this. Georgian GDP for 2003 was 3.91 billion dollars. It’s external debt being 1.8 billion, or 40% of its GDP. Per capita income averages $700 per year. So how can Georgia buy these weapons? Simple – financial help from the West.

The biggest contributor to Georgia’s military build up was the United States. During the period of 2004 – 2007, Washington officially gave Tbilisi nearly $600 million dollars. In addition to this, Tbilisi made a special fund in 2004, that accepted donations to develop its national armed forces. Donations can be made in full anonymity from private and government organizations, as well as NGO’s and non-profit organization.

The German Controversy

Recently, the German news channel ARD released a statement saying that Georgian soldiers were photographed and noted as using the German G36 assault rifle. Western reporters were actually the ones that took pictures of the Georgian Special Forces holding G36 rifles, made by the German weapons company Heckler und Koch. The director of the informational bureau in Freiburg – Jurgen Gresslin – stated that he had no doubt that the rifles in the pictures were the H&K G36 with the shortened barrel for the special forces.

The German Minister of Economics denied Germany selling the weapons to the Georgians, as special documentation that is required for export is not on file and never has been filed. No permission has been given to Heckler und Koch to sell the guns to Tbilisi. Channel ARD, quoting the British Jane’s Defence Weekly, Heckler und Koch directed a request to the German government for sale of 230 G36 rifles to Georgia (200 of them shortened special forces versions, and 30 compact-assault versions). However, H&K’s request was denied. Although no permission was given, because it violates the German policy of not selling weapons to countries involved in territorial conflict, the G36 rifles appeared on the battlefield in South Ossetia. H&K could’ve as easily sold the weapons to a third country, who could in turn sell the weapons to Georgia.

Most Recent Confrontation

On the 19th of August, an incident took place that undermined Washington’s statements that it was delivering humanitarian help to the people of Georgia. In the Georgian town of Poti, Russian troops arrested 22 Georgian uniformed men. After interrogation, the men said that they were supposed to receive humanitarian help from the U.S. ships. As it turns out, their packages included assault weapons, rocket launchers, and plastic explosives. The Georgian soldiers were driving nearly brand new HUMVEE’s, whose odometer showed not even 400 miles. On the windows of the vehicles there were still stickers with “U.S. Property” printed on them. This incident sparked the Pentagon’s official request made by Brian Wittman to the Russian government to return “US property” to the rightful owners.

Hightened Tensions in the Black Sea

The Overall Picture

The United States has sent ships to the Black Sea to give humanitarian aid to Georgia. This missions, knowing todays politics, most likely has a darker side to it – delivery of weapons and U.S. military specialists to organize diversions and to bring weapons to whatever remains of the Georgian Army. The story is still unfolding and most likely, the details won’t be that well known. However, it is a very shady operation by the United States.

Washington seems to be trying to build a fence around Russia, getting as close to it possible, for it once again, has control of many resources, on which American businessmen a.k.a. politicians want to get their hands on. Oil and other natural resources are more and more controlled by nations and people considered by Washington as “unfriendly”, and if United States can shake the feeling of Russia’s security, then it can start dictating terms and getting Moscow to allow business to come in and take advantage of the abundance of resources.

U.S. Naval presence in the Black Sea is simply another plank in the fence. U.S. destroyers and cruisers carry up to 8 Tomahawk missiles on board, which can carry nuclear warheads. In addition, U.S. setting up missile defenses in Poland and other European countries close to Russia borders is an indication of U.S. getting ready for something major. Speculations abound, but true reasons are known only to intelligence services. It could range from invasion of Iran to U.S. bringing troops into Ukraine and Georgia, bringing U.S. and Russia closer to war than the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, which looks suspiciously familiar, but in a mirror-reflection. U.S. is bringing it’s troops and equipment ever closer to Russian borders, which should really worry the rational thinking people of even Western countries.

The Black Sea Fleet and the Black Sea Itself

The Black Sea Fleet, since the break up of the Soviet Union, has lost most of it’s strategic value. However, as evident in recent events of the South Ossetian War, Black Sea Fleet can still be of a lot of importance to Russia. the Russian Navy can play a crucial role in cooling some heads in Georgia, for the Russian fleet is no match for the few demoralized Georgian ships left in the navy. Nevertheless, it has to be taken into account, that Russian ships were face with two small Georgian ships equipped with nothing more than big caliber machine guns. So, in essence, Russian Navy has nothing to brag about. Nevertheless, Russian Black Sea Fleet is able to be of important political value to Moscow, as it can keep the U.S. ships at bay, listen to the radio frequencies and decipher U.S. codes. They are of more intelligence value than confrontational. If the United States is really delivering weapons and military advisers to Tbilisi, then it is a trump in the pocket of the Russian politicians, as they most likely will quietly hint to the U.S. that they know what Washington is up to, and are ready to release this information to the public, indicating that NATO is not there for peacekeeping purposes and is in fact violating agreements, which the West constantly accuses Russia of violating.

Map of the Black Sea

The Ships in the Black Sea

The situation in the Black Sea remains tense. The United States has sent, as a show of good will and friendship, has sent it’s naval ships to the coast of Georgia with humanitarian help: U.S. Navy destroyer USS McFaul, U.S. Coast Guard cruiser USS Dallas, and the flagship of the sixth supply fleet USS Mount Whitney. Moscow has expressed concern for this, accusing Washington of supplying weapons and other military equipment to Georgia. Other sources have also informed the media that the U.S. warships carry Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles, able to strike land and sea targets. On the other hand, some of the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s ships remain near the coast of Abkhazia, protecting the withdrawal of its troops. On August 25th, Russian Flagship Moskva has left port at Sevastopol with its purpose described by Moscow officials as “testing of it’s systems and radio communications”.

Russian destroyer “Pitliviy”

Small Russian rocket cruiser “Mirage”

Russian Black Sea Fleet Flagship “Moskva”

“USS McFaul” anchored in the port of Batumi

Launch of the American Harpoon missile

Launch of a Tomahawk missile

Flagship of the 6th Supply Fleet “USS Mount Whitney”

U.S. Coast Guard’s “USS Dallas”

U.S. Navy’s destroyer USS McFaul

Independance of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and NATO’s Drive East

Independance of the Breakway Republics

Russian President Medvedev announced on August 26th, 2008 that Russia has recognized Abkhazian and South Ossetian independence and will start setting up diplomatic relations with the two nations. The West, almost immediately, reacted with anger and frustration. Russia is “out of control”. Washington has lost the diplomatic leverage over Moscow. The Kremlin now has the means by which to enforce its interests and it has made clear that it’s interests and decisions will not only be defended diplomatically, but also with the use of force. What has to follow now, in order for South Ossetia and Abkhazia not to end up like Taiwan, is international recognition of the two nations. If Russia can persuade E.U. of necessity of the step towards independanceofthe Caucasian republics, then U.S. will be left with no choice. It is a matter of Moscow having something to offer to the E.U., because Washington will not budge on the issue, and E.U. is dependent on Russian gas and oil, which may be used by Kremlin as leverage. First step has been taken – Moscow recognized the independance of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the people of the two republics are celebrating, and Russia has promised to provide help to Tskhnivali and Sukhumi whenever trouble should arise. Now, it’s up to the Moscow’s diplomats to work the situation in their favor.

NATO’s Drive East – Ukraine

U.S., 4 Turkish, Polish, and Spanish ships have been seen in the Black Sea. The Russian Flagship “Moskva” has already left port of Sevastopol with an “undeclared” purpose, which troubles the West. Ukraine has been trying to show NATO that they have power over Russia. This was exemplified in Kiev’s attempts to tighten their hold on the Black Sea Fleet with illegitimate orders for the Fleet to notify the Ukrainian authorities of any ship movements 72 hours, follow by an approval from Kiev, which may or may not happen. This was disregarded and Russia sailors know not to answer to any orders from Ukrainian officials. As it turns out, Ukraine does not have a firm hold on the Russian Naval Forces in the Black Sea. In addition to U.S. seeing this as evidence of Ukraine not being strong enough against Russia. Ukrainian people are more pro-E.U. than pro-U.S., which basically means that if the Ukrainian people do not see the partnership with U.S. as a way to get into E.U., they will not back their government’s decisions.

NATO’s Drive East – Poland

Poland has finally allowed the United States to put their missile defenses in Poland. It is simply ridiculous of the United States to state that their missiles defenses are aimed at Iran. They are closer to Russia than anything else troubling the West, and Iran has no reason to fire missiles at Europe. Polish people are scared, especially after Russia declaring that their missiles (some nuclear) are aimed at military bases in Poland. The Polish people have no one else to blame but their leader – Leh Kachinski, for endangering his own people. Poland has no business regarding Georgia, Ukraine, or Russian politics aside from those that concern trading relations between the two. Poland has developed magnificently in the recent decade, aside it’s eastern neighbor, and should not engage in outside politics of the Big Game, for it does not have leverage power, or much voice on global international issues.

Rest of NATO

British Foreign Minister Miliband decided to put together an anti-Russian coalition, being quoted as calling to the international community to “put together as wide a coalition to stop Russian aggression against Georgia.” (http://lenta.ru/news/2008/08/26/miliband/ Anatol Lieven of the British newspaper the Times quoted Lord Salisbury:

Lord Salisbury, Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister in the days of the British Empire, dispensed immense global power; but that did not mean that he liked playing about with that power.

Faced with proposals for British policy that he understood to be deeply damaging to the interests of other great powers, Salisbury would look his colleagues in the eye and ask simply: “Are you really prepared to fight? If not, do not embark on this policy.”

The full article that Lieven wrote, criticizes Miliband’s words and actions. He points out that the West’s threats towards Russia – not being able to join the WTO, canceling the membership of G8 – are empty and meaningless. Russian economy has performed well even without the WTO so far, and really has not many reasons left for joining this organization. The G8 is a meaningless organization without India and China, so Russia really could care less whether it is considered part of G8 or not. Miliband seems to be trying to get himself in the picture, and put himself up there with the politicians that made a difference in history. This is not the way to do this today. Diplomacy and rationale are key to making history today.

The Conclusion

Russia has declared South Ossetia and Abkhaziaindependent. The two Republics are celebrating. This may be a short-lived celebrations as the rest of the world is yet to recognize the two new additions to the world community. It seems like it may be a long process. U.S. and the rest of the west are trying to threaten Russia with different things that they assume are hurtful. In the short-run, they may make Russia stumble, especially economically, but the guys sitting in Kremlin has all the things planned out. It seems like they have a way out of every situation that the West puts them in. It seems that they have anticipated every possible action and have already planned every “just-in-case” scenario. Now, Western threats to Russia sounds more like frustrated gasps, such as those that one makes when he gets punched in the solar plexus.

CNN and Western Media in South Ossetia

Yellow Journalism

CNN is a trusted news source in the Western world. It made a name for itself, and it’s editors know this. Eduard Kakoiti, while visiting a hospital near Tskhinvali, saw a CNN journalist, who was with the Georgian Army at the time of attack. He was quoted by RBC to say that the journalist told him, that he was told there will be a form of “blitzkrieg”. That the Georgian Army will sweep into South Ossetia and will topple the South Ossetian government. Well, this did not happen, and the journalist, remaining unnamed, was actually wounded and taken to a hospital in South Ossetia. Kokoiti also was quoted, as saying that when the journalist goes back to the U.S., he should tell the truth about the conflict. Needless to say, the journalist will most likely never release his encounter with the South Ossetian leader to the Western public, and CNN will most likely do everything it can, so the story does not leak out.

CNN also is accused of using the wrong footage to cover the events in Georgia. In a nutshell, CNN is accused of using videos of Tskhinvali, to demonstrate destruction of Gori. Not only is this copyright infringement (the videos shot by Russian camera men belong to them, if privately shot, or to the TV company, for whom the journalist works), but this is disinformation of the masses. It is the biggest crime that is imaginable. If the U.S. does not have the decency to calm down Saakashvili and tell him not to bomb civilian population, at least make sure the mass media presents true facts. Here, are two videos. The first video was shot by the man that speaks in the second video. The first video shows Tshkinvali, capital of South Ossetia. Second video is in English and requires no translation.

Fox News Controversy

Fox News Studio B’s anchor Shepard Smith has shamelessly been rude on live TV to survivors from South Ossetia – 12 year old Amanda Kakoeva (an american-ossetian living in the U.S.) and her aunt Laura Tadeeva-Koreviski. An interview was set up to give live accounts of what happened in South Ossetia. Obviously, FOX did not get the storyline they needed, instead, they got two survivors blaming Saakashvili. Both were visiting their relatives in South Ossetia when the Georgian Army attacked. Smith continuously interrupt the guest speakers in places where they talk about Georgian President’s Saakashvili Army bombing civilians and committing war crimes. Towards the end of the video, Laura is interrupted by Shepard Smith abruptly to go to commercial. Both were quoted later as saying they were really pressured into not saying what they had to say, but seeing this was live television, they took the opportunity to do so. See for yourselves:

The Conclusion

Saakashvili went out of line during his military operations. Now, the West is faced with “inconvenient truth”. Those in power will do their best, to turn the mass media away from the reality of the conflict. As was mentioned before on this blog, Russia has won on the battlefield, but the media war is being lost. Not completely, but it is slowly slipping out of their control. It is vital, to analyze the tiniest details, when looking at politics, for the real reasons are never evident to the naked eye.

South Ossetia War – The Aftermath

South Ossetia

Tskhinvali is destroyed. Infrastructure is crippled. Thousands of people are refugees. The status of the breakaway republic is unknown. For a very odd reason, Western politicians are deciding for the Ossetians, whether they have the right to be independent or not. Well, once a precedent is set in politics, there is no turning back. That precedent was Kosovo and no Western leader has the right to tell the South Ossetians that they are to remain as part of Georgia. There is no way that the population of the Republic of South Ossetia is willingly going to be governed by a political leader that was willing to kill off the population as much as he could to make a point to the West. Saakashvili’s massive bombardments of civilian targets are proof enough that he doesn’t care about the people. His disregard for the destruction in the region is direct evidence for him not caring about the loss of capital, which could be used by Georgia in case of a victory. So in the end, South Ossetians will never willingly remain as part of Georgia’s territory. The loss of life, destruction, and ruthless motives are too much for them to forgive.

Abkhazia

Abkhazia took advantage of the military operations in South Ossetia to take a stance themselves. They remained within their disputed territories and kept losses to a minimum (in whole thanks to Georiga’s Army being focused on South Ossetia). Their disputed territory was the Kodori Gorge. Only two days after Abkhaz soldiers began military operations against Georgia, the Abkhaz flag was flown over the disputed territory (with direct help from the Russian Air Force). Just like South Ossetia, Abkhazia will take advantage of this opportunity to push towards its independence from Georgia.

**It is important to understand that Ossetians, Abkhazians, and Georgians are completely different people and nationalities. Although peaceful towards each other, they all like their autonomy and want to govern themselves.

Georgia

The future of Georgia’s political arena, and Georgia’s territorial integrity is under a big question mark. Georgia is exiting the Union of Independent Nations, which consists of all former Soviet states, although they are not gaining anything from doing so. The Georgian population, according to numerous reports from www.utro.ru, www.lenta.ru, www.kommersant.com, and other mass media web sites, are turning hostile towards Saakashvili and his government. According to an article in www.utro.ru, nearly everyone, and especially those that have lost someone in this, war are cursing Saakashvili and his government. People are crying and saying that they never wanted a war with Russia. That the two nations are neighbors and should not shoot at each other SOURCE. It is important to understand the civilian population of Georgia is disgruntled, demoralized, and in mourning. Georgia, as a nation, will most likely remove Saakashvili from the government. The population has no more faith him, and many journalists working the area are noticing the Georgians’ want for someone who has a head on their shoulders.

Ukraine

If the Black Sea Fleet is involved, Ukraine and U.S. will do everything in their power to get it out of Sevastopol ahead of the scheduled removal of the fleet in 2017. Ukraine has been giving Georgia weapons and military equipment for years. Ukraine and the Baltic states have almost completely re- equipped their armies with U.S. weapons. The old weapons were given as "gifts" to Georgia. In the end, Georgia became the most militarized and best equipped country of all the former Soviet Republics. After the military operations have ceased in the region, Ukraine has also decided to exit the Union of Independent Nations. So in short, Ukraine is being a thorn in Russia’s side because it saw an opportunity to make its stance known. They counted on Georgia in being successful in getting Russia on its knees. However, that did not happen, and now the Ukrainian government is trying to frantically get something out of this mess, so far unsuccessful. Yuschenkowants the Black Sea Fleet out, and to become part of NATO. With U.S. giving no military aid and doing nothing but diplomatic measures against Russia, Ukraine is debating whether it wants to be part of the northern alliance or not.

Russian soldiers near the town of Gori

Russia

Russia has made clear to the world that it is back in the game. It is able to defend its borders and its interests both diplomatically and militarily. It showed the Western leaders that it ahs learned from conflicts in Chechnya in how to deal with military operations regarding the civilian population (in Chechnya the civilian population was turned against them, and so as to not make the same mistake again, actions were planned carefully this time). The war in South Ossetia has made clear where the East and West sphere’s of influence are. Moscow has all of its actions justified and well calculated. Now, since the military actions have ceased, Russian diplomats will be tested. Nevertheless, Russian position is firm and well supported.

The Russian 58-th Army is making sure that the Georgian Army is disarmed and is taking all of Georgian military equipment with them, so Georgia will not be able to pick up arms again in the near future. The town of Gori, where most of the Georgian Army was stationed, has been demelitarized by the Russian Army. Control of the Gori region is being slowly transfered to the Georgian authorities. The whole purpose of Russian military being present in Georgia is disarmament of the Geogrian Army in the region.

The United States

If this conflict was not in U.S. interest, it would simply not happen. This war had two outcomes, either Russia shows that it has a say in the world politics again and it back up from its knees, or U.S. becomes dominating force in the region, with the ability to dictate to Russia its rules. The outcomes that we witnessed was that Russia is back in the game, and strong. With all the moves calculated ahead of time and with precision, Russian politicians showed Washington that Moscow will not tolerate anyone dictating their rules to them. U.S. goals are still not reached. To achieve dominance in the Caucasus region, it needed Georgia to do some more damage to Russia’s credibility. Ukraine does not have command of the Black Sea Fleet and it is powerless to do much about it, due to agreements signed in the 1990’s. Washington lost most of what it gambled with during the South Ossetian conflict.

The Conclusion

The overall conclusion to all of this is not final, however, many things have already been decided. Russia is back on its feet. It’s presence and weight was felt during the South Ossetian War. Kremlin did not have one miscalculated step. It was prepared for this conflict, because the arms of the FSB, just like the CIA, stretch far and the intelligence side of the conflict most likely knew everything ahead of time. Georgia is a crippled ally in the Caucasus. A "special project", according to Sergei Lavrov- Russian Foreign Minister. The project failed, and at the cost of thousands of lives and ruined nations. It will take years to rebuild infrastructure, military bases, and homes. People, however, will never look at the West the same way again.

Path of War: From Vladikavkaz to Gori – Russian War Correspondent’s Photos in South Ossetia

Map of Georgia

War correspondent Arkadiy Babchenko began reporting from the first hours of the beginning of the military operations. From Vladikavkaz he went to South Dzhava, then to Tshkinvali. As a war correspondent, he took part in storming the Georgian village of Zimo Nikozi, then followed soldiers of the “Vostok” battalion to Gori. These are his pictures from the war.

Zari Road

Russian Troops

Knocked out Georgian tank in Tskhinvali

A Destoryed Building in Tskhinvali

Another destoryed Georgian tank in Tskhinvali

A building in Tskhinvali after Georgian bombardment

A column with Russian soldiers in South Ossetia

Soldiers of the Chechen battalion Vostok

Russian troops

Russian Artillery poistions at an undisclosed location in South Ossetia

South Ossetian soldier

“Vostok” soldiers after storming Zemo Nikozi

A U.S. AT-4 grenade launcher abandonded by retreating Georgian army

Captured Georgian soldiers. Many Georgian mobilized reserves took off uniforms, dressed as civilians, and tried to pass Russian check points.

“Vostok” soldiers

Destroyed Georgian truck

A destroyed Georgian military column

Storm of Zemo Nikozi

The depots found in Gori had a lot of american equipment, such as this truck (U.S.);

Road to Tshinvali

Burning houses in a Georgian village of Zemo Nikozi