Scandalous Detail of August War

14 February, 2013

Umpteenth violation of International Agreement on the part of the Kremlin

The August war in 2008 left indelible trace in the minds of many people world over thanks to a number of video and photo materials depicting Russians grabbing and taking away weaponry and military machinery of Georgian Army but this Blitzkrieg war had another episode, which did not take up the headlines. It should have caused an international scandal for sure. Now it’s late.
ne of the Georgian Army units which retreated from its Tskhinvali outskirts position in August 2008, brought 16 Strela-2 - man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system – to Tbilisi. This weapon was abandoned by Russian instructors and Ossetian separatists fighting Georgian troops.
Later, appearing on the TV air, the defense specialists of Georgian Army examined those Strela-2 missile systems and noticed that missile launching containers had unique factory numbers erased and primitively over-chiseled with three-digit numbers. No doubt, those who did it were most likely hoping that in this way no one would be able to determine time and place of their manufacturing and how these arms turned up in the hands of Ossetian separatists. This fact attests the absolute violation of international agreements.
Background information: At the Russian-American summit in Bratislava on 24 February, 2005, an agreement was concluded which envisaged strict control over missile systems. The document was signed by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. At the time the Russian representatives noted the fact that the agreement came into being thanks to their initiative.
According to the agreement, Moscow and Washington are obliged to notify each other instantly about the type and number of missile systems that they sell to particular countries.
Toughening of control over the missile systems stemmed from the desire of both the White House and the Kremlin to avoid falling of Stingers, Eagles or Strelas into the hands of terrorists who would readily shoot down either military or civilian planes and helicopters using this effective and compact weapon.
In Tbilisi, the air defense specialists dismantled Strela systems by disengaging missiles from containers. Then they saw that every missile had clearly visible genuine unique manufacturing numbers on them. This opportunity however was not used by the then Georgian Defense Ministry or United HQ. The former Government too failed to take notice of it and did not try to report on the extraordinary Strela booty to the international community.
Had Georgia reported on the finding, Americans would have immediately used the 2005 Bratislava agreement to demand explanations from Russians about how these Russian-made missile systems migrated to Ossetian separatists on the sovereign territory of Georgia.
Whatever the would-be Russian explanation, Russia certainly broke the conditions of the bilateral Bratislava agreement as a manufacturer of Strela-2 missile systems by secretly handing them over to informal military formations.
Who knows what sort of other dangerous missile launchers Russia had supplied to Ossetian and Abkhaz armed groups in addition to these 16 Strela-2 systems and who knows where and in whose terrorist hands these launchers are right now.

P.S. Examination of the Strela booty confirmed their full readiness, as the heat guided system worked without a glitch.