Chapter 12: The End of War and Aftermath.
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September 7th, 2002, Georgia
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Tbilisi
“Welcome, I’m Zulab Abuladze, the local BBC correspondent in Georgia.” The tall Georgian stated as he flinched slightly as the massive noise of the people behind him interdicted his voice somewhat. He forced himself to look at the camera and remain calm. “The Russian Armed Forces have made tremendous progress in the Georgian nation, and the old loyalist regime has virtually collapsed as news leaked out that Russian Spetznaz Brigades operating from their military bases in Armenia managed to kill the top local Cabinets of the old loyalist regime. The forces are in anarchy from all recent reports.”
Zulab then turned towards the large masses of Georgians lining up in the eastern sector of the city and he started to speak again. “As you can see there are a mass of Georgian civilians in Tbilisi lining up to leave the city towards the east, where the Russians have established total dominance. The city of Tbilisi is totally surrounded and the Russian military has halted its advance, with a public message being sent to evacuate all civilians within 2 days. An ultimatum of surrender to President Mikhail Saakashvili has also been sent according to the United Nations and the Russian Ministry of Defense, however there is no confirming this in large part. People are protesting in the streets as well demanding the resignation of Saakashvili and return to peace with new elections. However again, there is no news from the government. Some rioters actually made their way into the government building, however they were forced to return after security officials found them trying to break in and listen to the decisions being made. They are currently being detained to see if they heard any sensitive information.”
“The situation here in Tbilisi is quite apocalyptic if I may express my views. Russia and Georgia has never had the most amiable of relations, however full out war was something that no one contemplated, and it seems that the incompetence of both regimes vying for power which plunged the country into civil war led to the Russian intervention. The non-intervention stance taken by NATO has also sent things into a spin here in Georgia. In fact the very notion that some NATO candidate countries like Bulgaria and Romania supporting the Russian intervention is seen as something crazy and ludicrous here in Georgia. However the storm of war is something that is hitting everyone hard. People scrounge to find food. Electricity is scarce, and everyone knows someone who is dead. The Russian airforce dominates the skies, as you can see above you.”
The cameraman turned his camera towards the skies to sow multiple Russian warplane squadrons in the skies watching the Georgian capital dangerously. They were upholding the 2 day time limit given to make sure civilians made it out of the city, however they were looking to make sure that the Georgians would not take advantage of the ceasefire for military purposes.
“Some radicals here have even raised the notion of keeping the civilians here to force the Russian’s hands, however such a move would destroy the credibility of Georgia on the international stage. However from reports that we have managed to gain, it seems that around 20% of the entire population has managed to escape the city by now. The Russians have set up a refugee camp outside far from the frontlines.”
Zulab turned back to the camera fully and stated, “And this is the situation on the ground. I am also going to be leaving the capital and will be moving to the Russian camps within the next hour or so. Back to you now, Mike.”
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Saakashvili Accepts Russian Ultimatum! Georgia Surrenders! Russian Troops in Tbilisi, Capital of Georgia
Sunday, September 8th, 2002.
Tom Hopper
When Russian troops managed to encircle the capital of Georgia on September 6th, they issued two directives. One was an ultimatum for President Saakashvili to surrender Georgia and hand over interim control to the cabinet, and the second one was the directive for Civilians to evacuate the city of Tbilisi. Today morning, President Saakashvili made an announcement in radio and television announcing that for the protection of Georgian lives, he would follow the Russian ultimatum.
According to sources, he had been vehemently opposed by members of the military, however the current military situation is extremely tenuous, the city of Kutaisi surrendered without even a fight and the entire coastline has been captured by Russia, with Russian marines advancing inward with air support and armored support.
Russian troops have already begun entering the capital of Georgia and the General of the 58th Army, Major General Marat Kulakmetov has stated that after the region was stabilized Russian troops would leave the country in its full entirety. The Commander-in-Chief of Russian Ground Forces, Alexey Maslov has stated that this will include a new political elections overseen by the Russians, with third parties from Turkey and Armenia to overlook the elections as well. A referendum has also been proposed for the breakaway states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Russian troops in Tbilisi.
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2002 Georgian General Elections, October 25th, 2002:-
Georgian Parliament:-
Alliance of Georgian Patriots (yellow) – 81 seats (David Tarkhan-Mouravi)
Conservative Party of Georgia (green) – 26 seats (Zviad Dzidziguri)
State of the People’s Party (brown) – 17 seats (Nika Machutadze)
European Georgia (pink) – 5 seats (Davit Bakhradze)
Independents (grey) – 21 seats
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Pro-Russian Tarkhan-Mouravi elected President of the Republic of Georgia!
The Times, Reporter David Hope, October 27th, 2002
In the interim Georgian General Election, the new Georgian political party named the Alliance of the Georgian Patriots won the elections in a landslide victory. A member of the old Georgian aristocracy, David Tarkhan-Mouravi is the leader of this party and has been elected President of the Republic of Georgia and his party holds majority in the Georgian Parliament.
He has been vocal in his support for rapprochement with Russia. Due to the fact that Russia intervened to restore order, many Georgians are willing to support this line of thought. Under the civil war, the Georgians were unable to have proper food, and electricity supply with the constant threat of death. However the Russian intervention has introduced much needed stability which has been very beneficial for the Georgian populace as the Russians have started a proper food distribution program in the country.
His economic proposals are definitely impressive and in line of thought with the economists of Georgia and the bondage plan that he has been proposing is an ambitious one. He is also advocating for Georgia to join the CSTO Common Area and Free Market system which is going to be implemented next year, though doubts over this remain. On the issue of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the government and Russia are currently in talks.
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Abkhazian Independence Referendum, November 3rd, 2002
- Are you willing to remain in the Republic of Georgia with all the autonomous benefits of the Abkhazian Autonomous Socialist Republic (AASR) being restored? : 52%
- Do you wish for the Abkhazian nation to become a fully independent nation? : 41%
- Invalid Votes : 9%
- Electoral Turnout: 89%
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South Ossetian Independence Referendum, November 3rd, 2002.
- Are you willing to remain in the Republic of Georgia with all autonomous benefits of the South Ossetian Autonomous Socialist Republic (SOASR) being restored? : 34%
- Do you wish for the South Ossetian Nation to become a fully independent nation? : 62%
- Invalid Votes: 4%
- Total Electoral Turnout : 91%
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The Diplomat
The Republic of South Ossetia Declares Independence from Georgia!
Abkhazia votes to remain as autonomous region!
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Russian State Duma:-
Yabloko (yellow) - 267 seats
Communist Party of Russia (red) - 148 seats
National Center Party (green) - 30
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (blue) - 15 seats
Independents (grey) - 40
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