Russia deploys missile defense system in Abkhazia, Georgia

Russia announced on Wednesday that it had deployed an S-300 advanced missile defense system in Georgia’s Moscow-backed rebel region of Abkhazia, saying it would provide anti-aircraft defense for Abkhazia and Georgia’s other Russia-supported breakaway enclave, South Ossetia.

The move signals that Russian forces are bolstering involvement in the disputed area which was at the heart of the brief 2008 Russia-Georgia war, when Russia conquered Georgian forces after five days of battle, and subsequently recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent. So far, only Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru have followed Moscow’s lead in recognizing the two regions as independent.

On Thursday, Georgia said Russia had taken an “extremely dangerous provocative step” in deploying the missile system, and beseeched the international community to “take decisive measures to make Russia abandon its policy of military build-up on Georgia’s occupied territories and fully comply with its international commitments.”

Stratfor notes that “Although the system’s official purpose is to provide air defenses for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the air defense battery’s range entails broader significance for Georgia and for Russia’s efforts to consolidate its military position in the Caucasus. … [T]his is one component of a multipronged Russian effort to consolidate its military control over the Caucasus.”

When Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote, “Russia’s attack on Georgia … marks the beginning of a dangerous new era in history.”

Moscow’s effort to shore up defenses in Georgia’s breakaway regions provides evidence that the dangers of the new era are intensifying. Russia will increasingly assert itself in Georgia, the Caucasus, and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union region, as it continues its quest to resurrect the Russian sphere of influence.