Caucasus 2009 (also called Kavkaz 2009) was an operational-strategic military exercise of the Russian armed forces which took place from 29 June to 6 July 2009. It was conducted in 10 southern subjects of the Russian Federation. [1]
The main purpose of the exercise was to assess combat readiness in the Southwest district of Russia and to improve interaction of military administrations in the North Caucasus. [1] The exercises were structured around a theoretical crisis situation that spirals out of control into open fighting. [2]
The Russian General Staff officials claimed the drill should help "stabilise the situation in South Russia" and "prevent Georgia's possible military actions against Abkhazia and South Ossetia". "The incumbent Georgian leadership has not given up new military adventures with regard to Abkhazia and South Ossetia or attempts to resolve the territorial issue by armed force," the Interfax news agency quoted the source as saying.[ citation needed ] According to Deputy Defence Minister Col. Gen. Alexander Kolmakov the exercises were adjusted as a result of the recent NATO war games that were held from 6 May to 3 June in Georgia. [2]
Georgia and Russia fought a brief war in August 2008 when Georgia launched a military operation against South Ossetia, a de facto independent region that was backed by Russia. President Medvedev sent in troops to drive Georgian forces out of the region and invaded Georgia Proper, the base of the Georgian Army.[ citation needed ]
Georgia denounced the drills as "dangerous provocation". Georgia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Nalbandov, said that "holding of such maneuvers against the background of explosive situation will only contribute to further tensions". [3]
According to a Western military attaché in Tbilisi, interviewed by the International Crisis Group researchers, Russia's decision to use several sites in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, during the drills "could further stoke tensions." [4]
The participating units were mainly from the North Caucasus Military District, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as units of the Black Sea Fleet, the Caspian Flotilla, the Air Force and the Airborne Troops, a total of 8,500 troops, about 200 tanks, 450 armored vehicles, and up to 250 artillery pieces took part in the exercises.[ citation needed ]
The exercises were personally overseen by the chief of Russia's General Staff, General Nikolay Yegorovich Makarov, [2]
The exercise was held in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, the Astrakhan, Volgograd and Rostov Regions, the Republics of North Ossetia – Alania, Ingushetia and Dagestan, as well as the Karachayevo-Cherkess and Chechen Republics. [5]
The Defence Forces of Georgia, or Georgian Defence Forces (GDF), are the combined military forces of Georgia, tasked with the defence of the nation's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. They consist of the Land Force, Air Force, National Guard, and Special Operations Forces. The Defence Forces are under overall leadership of the Minister of Defence of Georgia and directly headed by the Chief of Defence Forces.
South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated population of just over 56,500 people (2022), who live in an area of 3,900 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi), with 33,000 living in the capital city, Tskhinvali.
The Georgian Civil War lasted from 1991 to 1993 in the South Caucasian country of Georgia. It consisted of inter-ethnic and international conflicts in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as the violent military coup d'état against the first democratically-elected President of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, and his subsequent uprising in an attempt to regain power.
The Abkhazia conflict is a territorial dispute over Abkhazia, a region on the eastern coast of the Black Sea in the South Caucasus, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The conflict involves Georgia, Russian Federation and Russian-backed self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia, internationally recognised only by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria; Georgia and all other United Nations members consider Abkhazia a sovereign territory of Georgia. However, as of 2023, Georgia lacks de facto control over the territory.
The Georgian–Ossetian conflict is an ethno-political conflict over Georgia's former autonomous region of South Ossetia, which evolved in 1989 and developed into a war. Despite a declared ceasefire and numerous peace efforts, the conflict remained unresolved. In August 2008, military tensions and clashes between Georgia and South Ossetian separatists erupted into the Russo-Georgian War. Since then, South Ossetia has been under a de-facto Russian control.
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 the 1580s, when the Georgian kingdom of Kakheti and the Russian Empire signed a treaty of alliance in 1587. Since then, Georgia–Russia relations have been developing vibrantly and culminated in the 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.
The 1991–1992 South Ossetia War was fought between Georgian government forces and ethnic Georgian militias on one side and the forces of South Ossetian separatists and Russia on the other. The war ended with a Dagomys Agreement, signed on 24 June 1992, which established a joint peacekeeping force and left South Ossetia divided between the rival authorities.
The Abkhazian Armed Forces are the military forces of Abkhazia. The forces were officially created on 12 October 1992, after the outbreak of the 1992–1993 war with Georgia. The basis of the armed forces was formed by the ethnic Abkhaz National Guard. The Abkhaz military is primarily a ground force but includes small sea and air units. According to the authorities of the Republic of Abkhazia, the Abkhazian Land Forces are organised along the Swiss model – in time of peace they have personnel of 3,000 to 5,000 and in case of war further 40–50,000 reservists are called out. Georgia regards the Abkhaz armed forces as "unlawful military formations" and accuses Russia of supplying and training the Abkhaz troops.
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.
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 Russo-Georgian War broke out in August 2008 and involved Georgia, Russian Federation, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
This article describes the background of the Russo-Georgian War.
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.
Russia–South Ossetia relations refers to the bilateral relationship between Russia and the Republic of South Ossetia, a disputed region in the South Caucasus, located on the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Armenians in Samtskhe–Javakheti are ethnic Armenians of Georgian nationality living in the Samtskhe–Javakheti region of the Republic of Georgia. The southern part of the region (Javakheti) borders Armenia to the south. Here, ethnic Armenians form the great majority of the population with minorities of Georgians, Russians and Caucasus Greeks. Among Armenians of Samtskhe–Javakheti, Armenian is the common language spoken.
Both sides of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia blamed each other for starting the war.
Cooperative 09 or more commonly Cooperative Longbow/Cooperative Lancer 09 is the name of NATO military exercise held in Georgia within the framework of Partnership for Peace, Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative programmes from May 6 until June 3, 2009. Exercises were conducted 30 km from Tbilisi at the Vaziani military base. Spanish Lieutenant General Cayetano Miro Valls was the commander of drills. Cooperative exercises are held annually in order to help NATO and its allies to maintain high level of cooperation during crisis response operations.
Russian-occupied territories in Georgia are areas of Georgia that have been occupied by Russia after the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. They consist of the regions of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and the former South Ossetian Autonomous Region of Soviet Georgia, whose status is a matter of international dispute.
The events in 2010 in Georgia.
South Ossetia is a partially recognised landlocked state, approximately 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level on the slopes of the Greater Caucasus. Although it declared independence in 2008, only a few countries acknowledge it. The region is inhabited by Ossetians, an Iranian ethnic group. According to Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Syria and Nauru, it is one of the world's newest independent states. All other states and international organisations consider South Ossetia an autonomous region of Georgia, functioning as a de facto state for twenty years after declaring independence and conducting a successful armed rebellion. Its Georgian inhabitants have been displaced. South Ossetia has been a source of tension for a number of years, with Georgia and Russia's political differences impeding peaceful independence and breeding a turbulent series of events which undermine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.