Related Research Articles
Raul Jumkovich Khajimba is an Abkhazian politician, and served as President of Abkhazia from 25 September 2014 until 12 January 2020. He was also Chairman of the Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia from 2010 to 2015. Khajimba previously held the offices of Vice President (2005–2009), Prime Minister (2003–2004) and Defence Minister (2002–2003). He unsuccessfully ran for president in 2004, 2009 and 2011. He resigned the presidency in 2020 due to protests against him.
The Kodori Valley, also known as the Kodori Gorge, is a river valley in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway autonomous republic. The valley's upper part, populated by Svans, was the only corner of the post-1993 Abkhazia directly controlled by the central Georgian government, which since 2006 officially styles the area as Upper Abkhazia. On August 12, 2008, Russo–Abkhazian forces gained control of the Upper Kodori Valley, previously controlled by Georgia.
Korean Air Lines Flight 902 was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from Paris to Seoul via Anchorage. On 20 April 1978, the Soviet air defense shot down the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 707, near Murmansk, Soviet Union, after the aircraft violated Soviet airspace.
The 2006 Kodori crisis erupted in late July 2006 in Abkhazia's Kodori Gorge, when a local militia leader declared his opposition to the Government of Georgia, which sent police forces to disarm the rebels. The upper part of the Kodori Gorge was at that time the only portion of Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway republic, not controlled by the Abkhaz authorities.
Russia and Georgia have had relations for centuries. The contacts between the two date back to the 15th and 16th centuries, and the most important stage started in 1580s, when Georgian kingdom of Kakheti and Russian Empire signed a treaty of alliance in 1587. Since then, Georgia-Russia relations have been developing vibrantly, and culminated in Treaty of Georgievsk, which established eastern Georgia as a protectorate of Russia. At that time, Georgia saw Russia as a powerful Christian and modernizing neighbor, capable of protecting Georgia from invading Muslim empires and North Caucasian raiders. Although Russia did help Georgia to ward off Lezgin invasions, it failed to protect Georgia when Persia invaded in 1795. Catherine the Great later imposed punitive measures against Persia, but they were cut short by her death. In 1800, Paul signed a proclamation on the incorporation of eastern Georgia into the Russian Empire, which was finalized the following year by Tsar Alexander I. This was followed by annexation by Russia of western Georgian kingdoms and principalities and their incorporation into Russian Empire, namely, Kingdom of Imereti in 1810, Principality of Guria in 1829, Principality of Svaneti in 1858 and Principality of Mingrelia in 1867. Incorporation into the empire ended Muslim invasions and brought peace to Georgia. Russian Empire ended slave trade by Ottomans in western Georgia, which saved Georgia's shrinking population from demographic catastrophe. It also provided Georia with means for a cultural revival, such as Tiflis Imperial Theater, which was opened in 1852 and revitalized Georgia's long-abandoned theatrical tradition. Georgian intellectuals pursued their education in universities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg and brought new ideas to Georgia. However, loss of sovereignty and abolition of the autocephalous status of the Georgian Orthodox Church, along with Russification policy, gave rise to public discontent and rebellions. As a result of Russo-Turkish wars of 1828-1829 and 1877-1878, Russia acquired the historical southern Georgian provinces, such as Adjara and Meskheti from the Ottomans. The unification of historical Georgian lands under Russian Empire and national consolidation of Georgia gave rise to Georgian nationalism, spearheaded by "Tergdaleulebi" movement, a group of Russian-educated Georgian intellectuals led by Ilia Chavchavadze who brought modern nationalist ideas into Georgia. They campaigned against Russification and promoted national identity among Georgians through "Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians" and newspaper Iveria. Their vision did not envisage an outright revolt for independence, but demanded autonomy within the reformed Russian Empire, with greater cultural freedom, promotion of the Georgian language, and support for Georgian educational institutions and the national church. This movement instilled strong sense of national cohesiveness among Georgians, which were divided between various Georgian regional feudal kingdoms and Muslim empires throughout middle ages, and paved the path to the independence, which Georgia regained following the collapse of Russian Empire in 1917. The Menshevik government of Georgia transformed the image of now Bolshevik-led Russia from a source of enlightment into Asiatic state imbued with oriental backwardness and sough ties with the West through its links to Second International. The short-lived Georgian independence ended when Georgia was incorporated in the Soviet Union as the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1922. The bilateral Russo-Georgian ties were strained again in 1991 due to Moscow's support of separatist regions within Georgia and its intentions to join NATO. Russo-Georgian relations briefly began to improve during the Shevardnadze's presidency, but they became strained again after the Rose Revolution in Georgia. The tensions led to the Russo-Georgian War in August 2008, and diplomatic relations were broken. To this day, the two countries have maintained no formal diplomatic relations since.
The 2007 Georgia missile incident refers to the landing of a missile in the Georgian village of Tsitelubani in the Gori district near the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone, some 65 km (40 mi) north-west of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, on 7 August 2007. Georgian officials said that two Russian combat aircraft violated its airspace and fired a missile, which fell on the edge of a village but did not explode. Russia denied this allegation and said that Georgia may have fired the missile on its own territory as a way of provoking tensions in the region. Several expert teams were sent to Georgia to investigate the incident. While two international investigation teams confirmed Georgia's claims, the Russian team dismissed them. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stated that it was "extremely difficult to have a clear picture", given the conflicting nature of the experts' findings. The organization decided not to launch its own probe into the incident. The Portuguese ambassador to the OSCE has issued a statement on behalf of the EU, which refrained from supporting either Georgian or Russian version of the events.
The 2007 Georgia helicopter incident refers to the accusation by Georgia that three Russian helicopters fired on the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia on March 11, 2007. It was a break-away autonomous republic in north-western Georgia The attack was at the village of Chkhalta, which damaged a school, and the government headquarters of the Georgian-backed Abkhaz government-in-exile. Russia denied any attacks and said all its aircraft near the area were grounded over the weekend.
2007 in Georgia saw a number of military incidents involving Georgia and Russia over the Abkhazia area. Abkhazia is a partially recognised state within Georgia's territory. In March, Georgia accused Russia of attacking the Kodori Valley in Upper Abkhazia, which was the only area in Abkhazia that Georgia controlled. Russia denied the claims, saying that their aircraft in the area were grounded at the time. In August, Georgia claimed that Russia fired a missile into Georgia. This claim was confirmed by 2 investigation teams but challenged by a Russian investigation team. Also in August, Georgia claimed it shot down Russian aircraft that were in Georgia's airspace over the Georgia-controlled Upper Abkhazia area. Russia denied this claim and Abkhazia said that it was an American or Georgian aircraft that crashed in Abkhazia. Abkhazia also held elections that were not recognised by any countries. The president was Mikheil Saakashvili, who stepped down in November to run in the 2008 elections, which he won, again becoming president and replacing Nino Burjanadze who had been acting president since he stepped down.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 2008.
An international diplomatic crisis between Georgia and Russia began in 2008, when Russia announced that it would no longer participate in the Commonwealth of Independent States economic sanctions imposed on Abkhazia in 1996 and established direct relations with the separatist authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The crisis was linked to the push for Georgia to receive a NATO Membership Action Plan and, indirectly, the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo.
2008 Georgian drone shootdowns refers to several incidents in March, April and May 2008, when Georgia's pro-Russian breakaway region of Abkhazia claimed to have shot down unmanned Georgian reconnaissance aircraft. Georgia initially denied that any of these downings took place, but made the allegations public following the April 20 shootdown carried out by a fighter jet belonging to the Russian Air Force. Involvement of the Russian military was denied by the Abkhaz separatists and Russia, with both falsely claiming that the separatists alone had accomplished the task. However, Russian military involvement was later confirmed by a UNOMIG fact finding mission which represented its results on May 26. On June 1, in a note sent to the Russian delegation at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Georgia recognised that two other downings of its drones had taken place in the past.
The 2008 Russo-Georgian War was a war between Russia, alongside the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and Georgia. The war took place in August following a diplomatic crisis between Russia and Georgia, both formerly constituent republics of the Soviet Union. The fighting took place in the strategically important South Caucasus region. It is regarded as the first European war of the 21st century.
The Battle of the Kodori Valley was a military operation during the Russo-Georgian War in the Upper Kodori Valley of Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia. It was the only part of Abkhazia under Georgian control before this military conflict. On 9 August 2008, the Abkhaz military, with support by Russian forces, launched an operation to remove the remaining Georgian troops from the disputed gorge. After three days, the Georgian military left the Upper Kodori Valley.
The Russo-Georgian War broke out in August 2008 and involved Georgia, Russian Federation, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It covers 8,665 square kilometres (3,346 sq mi) and has a population of around 245,000. Its capital and largest city is Sukhumi.
The 1994 Iranian Air Force C-130 shootdown occurred on March 17, 1994, when an Iranian Air Force C-130E military transport aircraft, carrying Iranian embassy personnel from Moscow to Tehran, was shot down by Armenian military forces near the city of Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh, an area which had been under armed conflict since 1988. The 32 people on board were killed in the crash.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian-controlled forces on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Contact with the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was lost when it was about 50 km (31 mi) from the Ukraine–Russia border, and wreckage from the aircraft fell near Hrabove in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, 40 km (25 mi) from the border. The shoot-down occurred during the war in Donbas over territory controlled by Russian separatist forces.
A Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M attack aircraft near the Syria–Turkey border on 24 November 2015. According to Turkey, the aircraft was fired upon while in Turkish airspace because it violated the border up to a depth of 2.19 kilometres for about 17 seconds after being warned to change its heading ten times over a period of five minutes before entering the airspace. The Russia Defence Ministry denied that the aircraft ever left Syrian airspace, claiming that their satellite data showed that the Sukhoi was about 1,000 metres (1,100 yd) inside Syrian airspace when it was shot down.
On 17 September 2018, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) conducted missile strikes against multiple targets in government-controlled western Syria. Syrian air defences responded to the Israeli fighter jets, accidentally shooting a Russian military Il-20, killing 15 crew aboard. Russia blamed Israel for the loss of its plane, accusing the IAF of "hiding behind the Russian aircraft", thereby putting it in the line of fire. The Israel Defense Forces accepted responsibility for the airstrikes the following day, but expressed sorrow regarding the loss of a Russian plane. The strikes occurred a few hours after a Russo-Turkish agreement to create a demilitarized zone around Idlib Governorate was achieved, which postponed an imminent offensive operation by Syria's forces and its allies.
References
- ↑ "Pro-Russian Abkhazia says Georgian plane crashed". 25 August 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2018– via Reuters.
- ↑ "Georgia overflight dispute deepens". www.AlJazeera.com. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
- 1 2 "Second Probe Upholds Georgian Missile Accusations". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
- 1 2 "Russia says Georgia suffers". Reuters.com. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
- 1 2 "Tbilisi Investigating Reports Of Plane Downed In Kodori". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 "Georgia Decries 'Continuous Violation' Of Its Airspace". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
- 1 2 "Georgia fires at 'Russian plane'". 24 August 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2018– via news.BBC.co.uk.
- 1 2 https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070823/ap_on_re_eu/georgia_russia%5B%5D
