Russia is deploying its Tochka-U/SS-21/Scarab B short-range tactical missile in South Ossetia, reports Interfax quoting unnamed Russian military sources. The Tochka has a range of up to 120 km and around 15 of them were used against Georgia in the 2008 war. The Russian source said:
“[T]he Georgian special services have been informed about the presence of the rockets in South Ossetia, which are capable to effectively repel any aggression from Tbilisi.”
This comes after the revelation last month that a multiple-launch rocket system, the Smerch, was also deployed in South Ossetia, and the furor over the stationing of S-300 missile defense systems in Abkhazia.
Naturally, the Georgians, in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have responded that in fact the Russians are the aggressors:
The deployment of the Tactical Operational Missile Complex "Tochka - U" and the artillery battalion equipped with Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems poses a direct and overt threat to the peaceful population and territory of Georgia. By taking such actions Russia follows through with its aggressive policy directed towards the destruction of the Georgian statehood and elimination of the peaceful population of Georgia, as well as towards causing large-scale instability in the Caucasus and throughout the Black Sea Region.
The deployment of the offensive rocket systems in the occupied region points clearly to the Russian Federation's plans to launch open military aggression against Georgia.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia demands strongly from the international community, international organizations and partner countries to adopt active and effective measures in order to pressure Russia to end its aggressive policy against Georgia.
Georgia's partner countries, including the U.S., wer pretty quiet about the earlier news about the weapons deployment in the Russian-occupied territories/newly liberated independent states. Will this time be any different?
Joshua Kucera, a senior correspondent, is Eurasianet's former Turkey/Caucasus editor and has written for the site since 2007.
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