TBILISI NEUTRALIZES ALLEGED RUSSIAN SPY RING, GAINS POLITICAL MILEAGE
By Zaal Anjaparidze

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
Oct 2 2006

Georgian President President Mikheil Saakashvili The arrest of four
Russian military intelligence officers and eleven alleged accomplices
in Georgia on September 27-28 is part of Tbilisi’s ongoing efforts
to neutralize a purported Russian spy network in Georgia. Two
weeks earlier, on September 6, Tbilisi claimed to have averted a
coup by arresting dozens of Russia-financed, pro-Moscow activists
who reportedly were plotting to remove the government of President
Mikheil Saakashvili by force (see EDM, September 14). In March, after
the arrest of the alleged Russian mole Simon Kiladze, an employee of
the presidential administration, Saakashvili publicly guaranteed the
safety of any Georgians collaborating with foreign intelligence who
would give themselves up before May 1 (see EDM, March 31).

The Russian officers and Georgian citizens are being held on charges
of espionage, while the Georgian citizens also stand accused of high
treason. Georgian law enforcement provided evidence in the form of
recorded telephone conversations between the detainees and video
footage made by a hidden camera showing one of the Russians handing
over money to an undercover Georgian agent ().

Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told a news conference
on September 27 that for "months and years" the arrested military
intelligence (GRU) operatives and their Georgian collaborators had
been gathering sensitive economic, political, and military information,
including developments in Georgia-NATO relations.

Merabishvili said the group was planning "serious provocations," but
he did not provide details (TV-Rustavi-2, September 27). According
to him, GRU Colonel Anatoly Sinitsin directed the group from Yerevan,
the capital of Armenia. In fact, most of the Georgian citizens under
arrest are ethnic Armenians.

On September 29, a Tbilisi court sentenced the four Russian officers
— Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Savva, Lt. Col. Dimitry Kazantsev,
Lt. Col. Alexei Zavgorodny, and Major Alexander Baranov — to two
months in pre-trial detention. Ten of the Georgian citizens were also
remanded to custody. On September 29, videotaped confessions surfaced
showing five of the arrested Georgian citizens admitting to cooperating
with Russian intelligence. The court session was closed to the media
until the sentencing phase, because the Russian officers reportedly
had planned to make a statement for the press. None of the Russians
pleaded guilty, and they dismissed their arrests as "provocations."

The incident has escalated the already tense relations between the two
countries. Russia recalled its ambassador from Tbilisi and evacuated
most of its embassy staff and their families. Givi Targamadze,
chair of Georgian parliament’s committee on defense and security,
assumed that several key intelligence officers slipped out with the
evacuees (Resonansi, September 29). Russian officials have responded
with bellicose statements and hold a number of retaliatory options,
including reprisals against the sizeable Georgian diaspora and labor
migrants in Russia, financial sanctions, energy cuts, and ties with
the secessionist factions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia (Ekho Moskvy,
September 29). On September 30, Russia halted the scheduled withdrawal
of its troops from Georgia.

Yesterday, October 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Tbilisi
of provoking Russia. He said that even with support from foreign
sponsors, Saakashvili’s government cannot feel "comfortable and
secured." Nevertheless, Putin instructed the military to resume the
scheduled Russian troop drawdown. Putin suggested that Saakashvili’s
policies might lead to troublesome results in the long-run (Strana.ru,
Vesti, October 1-2).

Most Georgian pundits brushed away dire predictions about Moscow’s
response, arguing that increased international support for Georgia will
discourage tough Russian measures. Some pundits, however, warned that
Russian dominance in the Georgian energy sector might create problems
(TV-Imedi, September 28-29; Resonansi, September 29; Prime News,
September 30).

Saakashvili’s government has given the spy row wide publicity,
which has been picked up by the international media. On September
29, Saakashvili stated that Georgia’s actions deserved "overwhelming
approval" and "understanding" from the international community.

"Georgia has never been as protected as it is nowadays," Merabishvili
added, alluding to the international support (TV-Rustavi-2, September
29). Some Georgian media even speculated that the United States was
behind the arrests of the Russian officers, and suggested they might be
exchanged for U.S. or British intelligence officers arrested in Moscow
(Alia, September 28). Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili
and other officials hinted that, as a gesture of goodwill, Tbilisi
might repatriate the GRU officers to Russia after a guilty verdict
(TV-Imedi, September 29).

Indeed, Georgian sources report, with reference to AP and Reuters,
that Georgia might hand over the Russian officers to the OSCE
Chairman-in-office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht who
is arriving in Tbilisi today and is expected to have a joint news
conference with Saakashvili.

The spy row has left Saakashvili’s opposition no other choice to
demonstrate, although cautiously, solidarity to the authorities. The
New Rights and Georgia’s Way parties stated that government must think
about the fate of Georgians living in Russia and cautioned against
excessively provoking Moscow (TV-Imedi, Civil Georgia, September
29). On October 1, the opposition Republican and Conservative parties
called on all political groups to rally outside the Russian Embassy
on Wednesday, October 4, to demonstrate a united front against the
Russian threat (TV-Rustavi-2, October 1).

Once portrayed as feeble and corrupt, the Georgian special services
now appear to have transformed thanks to increased cooperation
with Western colleagues. Okruashvili and Merabishvili said that
several other Russia-guided spy groups are operating in Georgia and
that domestic traitors pose even higher threat than foreign spies
(TV-Imedi, TV-Rustavi-2, September 29). Merabishvili also noted that
there are still many people in Georgia who have been "accustomed to
openly collaborating with foreign special services for many years."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress