RIA Novosti, Russia
Oct 13 2006

Russia may use Air Force to protect its peacekeepers in Georgia
15:52 | 13/ 10/ 2006

MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – Russia may use its Air Force in
the event of a Georgian attack on Russian peacekeepers stationed in
the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the
Russian Air Force commander said Friday.

Commenting on recent tensions between Russia and Georgia last Sunday,
Sergei Ivanov, the Russian defense minister and a deputy prime
minister, said Russia would not remain indifferent in the event
Georgia attacked Russian peacekeepers or citizens, either in South
Ossetia or in Abkhazia.

"If the minister said that we [Russia] would certainly take adequate
measures, than he probably meant the use of air, naval and land
forces," Vladimir Mikhailov said.

South Ossetia and Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia
following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, unleashing bloody
conflicts in the region. Russia mediated ceasefire agreements between
the sides, and Russian peacekeepers have been deployed in the
conflict zones ever since.

On Friday, Russia asked the UN Security Council to draft a resolution
on Georgia demanding an extension of the mandate for its peacekeepers
in Abkhazia until April 15, 2007.

Since President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in Georgia on the
back of the 2003 "Rose Revolution," both the government and
parliament have sought to remove Russian peacekeepers from the
conflict zones of the two self-proclaimed republics, and to force the
withdrawal of Russian troops from two Soviet-era bases that are due
to close in 2008.

Mikhailov also said Russia could also use military transport aviation
for the withdrawal of military hardware and personnel from its two
bases in Georgia.

"If necessary, we will use military transport planes, which could
land in Adler [a Russian city on the Black Sea] or in other airports
to get the job done," Mikhailov said.

Part of the military equipment being removed from Russian bases in
Georgia will be transferred to the Gyumri base when Russia completes
its withdrawal from Akhalkalaki and Batumi by the end of 2008.

The Russian 102nd military base in Gyumri, about 120 kilometers (75
miles) from the Armenian capital Yerevan, is part of a joint air
defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which was
deployed in Armenia in 1995.

Authorities in Georgia charged four Russian officers with spying last
Wednesday, but released them Monday to defuse what was becoming a
mounting crisis. An enraged Moscow responded by suspending all
transportation and mail links with Georgia, while police targeted
illegal immigrants and businesses suspected of maintaining links with
the Georgian criminal underworld.