Col. Stanislav Lunev
Friday, Aug. 23, 2002

In recent days, relations between Russia and Georgia (one of three of the former Soviet republics in Trans-Caucasus) have deteriorated rapidly as Moscow has used strong language against its southern neighbor about what it sees as Georgia's failure to restrain separatist rebels operating in Chechnya.

Last week, Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that international terrorists based in Georgia had committed acts of aggression against Russia. His statement was followed by a demand from President Putin, which sounded very much like an ultimatum, that Chechen rebels who crossed into Georgia after fighting Russian troops be immediately handed over to Russia for punishment.

Georgian authorities argue that Russia's threats reflect Moscow's inability to accept Georgia's very existence as an independent country. Georgia also has protested incursions by Russian warplanes into the Pankisi Gorge, a largely lawless Georgia mountain border region that is inhabited by ethnic Chechens and is home to many refugees from the war in Chechnya.

In the spring of 2000, some Chechen rebels were forced out of their republic and, along with thousands of civilian refugees, established a base in Georgia in the Pankisi Gorge, which is located just south of the Russian border.

Since then, these Chechen rebels have not participated in the war in Chechnya to any great extent, mostly because the Caucasus Mountain passes in that area are covered by heavy snows for more than half of the year and are virtually impassable.

During the last two years, Chechen resistance has continued in Grozny and the surrounding agricultural area, and almost all weapons and munitions used by rebels are purchased from corrupt Russian officials. According to Russia's media, it is much cheaper to buy arms directly from the Russian military and bring them into the combat zone than to carry them on horseback from Georgia.

During the summer when the mountain passes are open, small groups of Chechen rebels have infiltrated Chechnya from Pankisi Gorge and other groups have infiltrated from Russia into Georgia. The last group of 14 Chechen rebels attempting to cross back into Georgia from Russia were captured and detained by Georgian border guards a couple of weeks earlier, and Putin is demanding they be immediately extradited as criminals and terrorists to face punishment in Russia.

However, under international law, combatants of a separatist internal armed conflict can be interned if they cross over into a neutral country, but they cannot be sent back for punishment. Also, under the Geneva Convention regulations, fighting the armed, uniformed Russian troops does not make Chechen rebels terrorists or criminals.

The Tbilisi authorities have asked Moscow many times to provide evidence that the Chechen rebels detained by Georgian forces have been directly engaged in attacking civilians or in other terrorist or criminal activities. However, instead of providing solid evidence, the Kremlin is using the controversy as a pretext for a potential military attack against Georgia, which has consistently rejected the idea that Russian troops can be used to crash terrorist and rebel enclaves in its territory.

Currently, Georgia has eagerly embraced President Bush's $64 million program to have U.S. anti-terrorist experts train Georgia's special forces. Georgian authorities strongly believe that their own newly trained forces could handle the problem with Pankisi Gorge and are rejecting Moscow's proposals to send Russian troops into the region and allow them to flush out Chechen rebels.

Massive crimes committed by Russian troops in Chechnya are the main reason that the rebel resistance continues and is even growing. There is no doubt that the present Russian troops, with low morale and undisciplined soldiers, can only make the situation much worse if they are moved into Georgia's Pankisi Gorge.

At the end of July, the U.S. State Department issued a strong statement in support of Georgia's independence and sovereignty, but it is very hard to believe that these political steps could stop potential Russian aggression against its small southern neighbor.

Without more realistic and decisive political measures, the situation in Trans-Caucasus could become much worse and negatively influence U.S. strategic interests in the region.

Col. Stanislav Lunev is the highest-ranking Soviet military intelligence officer ever to defect from Russia. Read his gripping story, Through the Eyes of the Enemy.

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