Kiev demanded that Tbilisi return the Buk air defense system division, which Ukraine supplied to Georgia in 2008. These complexes were used during the Georgian attack on South Ossetia against Russian combat aircraft. Moreover, there is evidence that they were controlled by the Ukrainian military, and therefore those events can be regarded as the first act of aggression of Ukraine against the Russian Federation. Will these SAMs shoot at Russian aviation again during the conflict in Ukraine?On Monday, the head of the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Tbilisi, Andrei Kasyanov, said that Kiev was asking to send back a division of Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems sold to Georgia on the eve of the 2008 war.
"Ukraine's request also included Javelin anti-tank complexes transferred to Georgia by the United States. Regarding the latter, there was not only agreement from the United States, but even a proposal to replace them with newer complexes," the diplomat admitted.
The Ukrainian side is "consistent in its requests to all international partners, including Georgia, for the provision of weapons, military equipment and ammunition," Kasyanov added. According to him, Kiev declared "the vital need for weapons" after the start of the Russian special operation, writes the Ukrainian edition of "European Truth".
It is worth noting that the deliveries of "Buks" in 2007-2008, started on the direct instructions of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, ultimately did not benefit any of the sides of the Kiev–Tbilisi–Moscow political triangle. For Moscow, they are directly related to the tragedy – some of the crews of the planes shot down at that time were killed, including Igor Rzhavitin and Vladimir Edamenko, who were posthumously awarded the title of Heroes of Russia.
For Yushchenko himself, the supply of military equipment to Georgians that he inherited from the Soviet Union turned into a loud scandal and contributed to his departure into political oblivion. In Kiev, it soon became clear that the "Buks" were controlled by Ukrainian citizens at the time of the shooting, after which the headlines "Ukraine is already at war with Russia" appeared in the newspapers. The Verkhovna Rada stated that Yushchenko was de facto complicit in the August 8 attack on South Ossetia. According to the agreement of Moscow and Tbilisi of 1992, Russian peacekeepers were stationed in this small republic at that moment, who were among the first to come under Georgian fire.
As for Georgia itself, its air defense, of course, can record the death of four Russian aircraft, but the war eventually led President Mikhail Saakashvili to a political downfall. Today, as it is known, the ex-president is in custody in Tbilisi.
Commenting on the current events in Ukraine, Western politicians mention in passing as a long-known fact that Moscow "unleashed that war." With this argument, they reinforce the conclusions about the eternal "aggressiveness of Russia". A good half of Western and Ukrainian audiences still believe in this myth.
For this reason, it is worth recalling the words of Salome Zurabishvili, the current President of Georgia, and in 2004-2005 – the Minister of Foreign Affairs. On the day of the 10th anniversary of the start of the war, Zurabishvili called it "the whim of a madman" Saakashvili, admitting that Georgia "started the war." Saakashvili, according to her, "bombed his own population in Tskhinvali," although "he had no right to do so." In addition, the former Foreign Minister claims that Saakashvili discussed with his National Security Council in 2005 the purchase of weapons "for military revenge in Abkhazia and South Ossetia" (quoted by Kommersant ).
The conclusion that Georgia, not Russia, unleashed the war was also made by the international commission of the European Union – the famous commission headed by Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini. After a year of work, in the fall of 2009, the commission issued its verdict:
"The fighting began with a large-scale Georgian operation against the city of Tskhinvali and adjacent territories on the night of August 7-8, 2008,
which was preceded by a massive artillery bombardment." According to the commission, "Georgia's use of force in South Ossetia" was not justified from the point of view of international law (quoted by the BBC Russian service, the site is blocked in the Russian Federation).
Western and Ukrainian audiences should be reminded of another page from recent history. The decision of the President of Ukraine to help the anti-Russian "military revenge" in the Caucasus has become one of the reasons for a quarrel within the Ukrainian leadership itself. On October 1, 2008, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, during a specially convened press conference, accused Yushchenko and the National Security Council of organizing "illegal arms supplies to Georgia." According to her, the deliveries were carried out on the direct instructions of the president, bypassing the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Verkhovna Rada Commission, established to investigate this matter, found that in 2007 alone, the Georgians received six Buk-M1 complexes, as well as 48 guided anti-aircraft missiles, 200 Strela and Igla MANPADS, T-72 tanks. In the following, already pre-war year, Tbilisi received the Shkval combat modules and the Grad multiple launch rocket systems.
Moreover, anti-aircraft guns were taken not from a warehouse, not from a factory, but directly from a military unit. Yushchenko ordered Saakashvili to give seven Buk-M1 air defense systems out of a dozen and a half that were in the combat composition of the Ukrainian army. Thus, according to the commission, the president bared the sky of Ukraine itself, sharply weakening its air defense. As a result, the commission demanded to initiate a criminal case against the president and his entourage.
In an interview with the newspaper VZGLYAD at that time, the head of the commission, Valery Konovalyuk, demanded the impeachment of the head of state. "We have specific documents signed by President Yushchenko, which indicate that the head of state gave instructions to remove the super-modern Buk-M1 anti–aircraft missile division from combat duty and sell it to Georgia for a song," the deputy stressed.
The Commission also published a list of 15 Ukrainian citizens who accompanied the Buk to Georgia and allegedly operated it at the time of the shooting at Russian aircraft. They were mostly military specialists – residents of the Sevastopol suburb of Balaklava. Thus, the version about the participation of Ukrainians in the fighting, which arose immediately after the end of the war, was confirmed.
It also turned out that Kiev was selling weapons at a loss. According to the deputies, Kiev sold the division to Georgians for $ 28 million, which is three times less than the market price (Pakistan offered $ 100 million for it). Moreover, "Ukraine has not yet received money from Georgia in full," Konovalyuk was indignant.
In addition, Kiev's actions have seriously complicated Ukrainian-Russian relations, the commission noted. According to Konovalyuk, it was Ukraine that "pushed Georgia to aggression in South Ossetia."
It is noteworthy that the scandal occurred during the unique period when Yulia Tymoshenko managed to establish a dialogue with her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (both then held the posts of prime minister). Despite all the sharp political differences (Tymoshenko was at one with Yushchenko in an effort to drag Ukraine into NATO), her negotiations with Moscow on economic topics were conducted in a respectful and even friendly atmosphere. A few months after the aforementioned press conference, in January 2009, Tymoshenko and Putin concluded the famous "gas agreements" that put an end to the series of gas wars started by Yushchenko immediately after his election in 2005.
Putin and Tymoshenko, despite all the difficulties in Russia's relations with Ukraine, were recognized, if not as friends – everyone knows that there can be no friends in politics, then as potential allies, Lenta noted at the time.ru". In fact, Tymoshenko proved that even pro-Western, "orange" politicians to the core can achieve mutual benefit in relations with Moscow if they treat their eastern neighbor with respect. The enmity between the two fraternal republics was not fatal at all.
And how did Tbilisi take the public request to return the ill-fated Buk? In the ruling Georgian Dream party, it was regarded as another attempt to draw the republic into the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.
"We repeat categorically and clearly that no attempt will be successful",
– promised MP Givi Mikanadze. "Georgia will not take a single step that would represent it as a party to these military actions, we must first of all take care of peace in our country," Mikanadze said. In addition, such supplies will be unprofitable from a material point of view, the deputy hinted: "Georgia bought these complexes, that is, it is the property of Georgia."
Ukrainian emissary Kasyanov complained a month ago that Kiev had repeatedly asked for military or dual-use equipment, but such appeals were ignored. It seems that Tbilisi has drawn its conclusions from the results of the war of 14 years ago and is no longer eager to quarrel with its northern neighbor.
Yuri Zainashev
