The announcement by the commander of Russia's air force that Russia has transported some of its S-300 air defense systems into Abkhazia has caused quite a stir in Georgia, and around the blogosphere. But is it news? A State Department spokesman says it isn't:
There have been systems in Abkhazia for two years. We can’t confirm whether they have added to those systems or not. So I – we will look into that. But just – this is by itself is not necessarily a new development. That system has been in place for some time.
It also isn't news, apparently, to the Abkhaz defense ministry:
Abkhazia’s Defense Minister Merab Kishmaria also recognized the fact the "air defense systems had been deployed long before Zelin’s statement,” the paper [Kommersant] said. “It was necessary because of the constant threat from Georgia and the fact that Abkhazia and Georgia have not signed the peace agreement,” Kishmaria told the paper.
However, it may not have been well known by everyone in the Abkhaz government, even at high levels:
At the same time, “a civil part” of Abkhazia’s leadership may not have known the details of the military co-operation between Moscow and Sukhum, the paper assumed. At least, the head of the republic’s Foreign Ministry Maksim Gvinjia yesterday “did not hesitate to deny the fact that Russian S-300s were in the republic,” it added.
The Georgian government, apparently, didn't know:
“It seems that Americans have more information owing to their technical capabilities. I cannot confirm whether this system has been deployed in Abkhazia until now or not, because the Georgian side has no exact information in this regard, at least, at my level,” [Georgian Parliamentary Chairman Davit] Bakradze told Civil.ge on August 12.
“Unfortunately, we do not have exact information about what kind of armament is deployed in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali and that's exactly one of the problems - absence of exact information and this is why Russia does not allow international monitors into those territories,” he said.
Nor did the newspaper that put together -- just this weekend -- an ostensibly complete list of Russian military facilities and hardware in Abkhazia. Nor did this blog, which has a downloadable Google Earth file (warning: can result in extreme procrastination) showing surface-to-air missile sites all over the world, including some S-300s in Armenia, but not in Abkhazia. Since these sites generally aren't secret, either Russia just did move them in, or made some effort to keep quiet that they were there over the past two years.
So why, then, did Russia decide to announce it now?
Joshua Kucera, a senior correspondent, is Eurasianet's former Turkey/Caucasus editor and has written for the site since 2007.
Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.