“Russia in 1992 is impregnable Russia”
The day after tomorrow, on Sunday, August 14, a mournful date is celebrated in Abkhazia – the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Abkhazia. And now it is also a round, anniversary date – the thirtieth anniversary of the start of the Patriotic War of the people of Abkhazia.
That day in 1992, like today, came on a Friday. Of the thirty years that have passed since the troops of the State Council of Georgia entered Abkhazia, the first year and a half months fell on a bloody, life-destroying war, and the rest of the time for Abkhazia was a period of difficult trials, but still mostly peaceful life.
Today “Echo of the Caucasus” contacted a war veteran, Hero of Abkhazia, former Deputy Prime Minister and parliamentarian of the fifth convocation Aslan Kobakhiato share his memories and thoughts in connection with this date. Here is what Aslan Alekseevich said:
“The first day… They say: they expected – they didn’t expect … Of course, they expected! Of course, technically… But the possibilities were very limited. You and I understand this very well. Many believe that Shevardnadze is a democratic world, that the war with Abkhazia will not slow down … But there the ground was prepared to go. And we, it must be confessed, had the ground prepared to resist. With bare hands, but resist. And here we must pay tribute to the leaders of the national liberation movement, who honestly and openly defend the country, that we have a very difficult struggle ahead of us. And the people were ready for this fight. And, of course, accordingly, the leader was in his place, at his best, and the people supported him. So, I understand that the work of the Abkhazian national liberation movement, the workload of our old comrades, I have always highly appreciated and appreciate. They fulfilled their mission in full, the people were ready for resistance. On the first day of the war, we simply wait for the combat phase. It was very hard. We were leaving. Then they retreated a few days later to Gumista. Then the Eastern Front, the Gumista Front, the Bzyb Front grew. All this, obviously, literally accumulated in the first two weeks.
– That’s the question I want to ask. From the very beginning, Georgia was the subject of accusations around the “third party”, as the then accusations, that is, Russia. But the further, the more it was accompanied by some very surprising arguments. Once, a Tbilisi expert in the rank of general wrote a study in which he pointed out that Russia provoked the war in Abkhazia by transferring to Georgia the share of the armed forces of the USSR assigned to it under the Tashkent agreement, as well as to other union republics … The Kremlin was initially on the side of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, although in our country they were convinced that the Russian government would have risen in Tbilisi. perceive it the other way around.
– You speak correctly. The statements of some in Georgia that we are fraternal peoples, Georgians and Abkhazians, but the Russian bastards set us against each other … Things must be pronounced by their proper names. Russians during the beginning of the Georgian-Abkhazian war were allies of Georgia. The meeting between Yeltsin and Shevardnadze in Dagomys, which was commented in detail by Stanislav Lakoba, – there the go-ahead was given to Georgia … If Yeltsin had then: fuck it – he said it in the teeth, there would have been no war. Today’s Russia is a completely different Russia for us, it is a friendly Russia, it is a fraternal Russia, it is a Russia that has recognized the independence of Abkhazia. And the Russia that existed in 1992 is impregnable Russia. We honestly have to say this to ourselves and to our Russian friends… Armored vehicles, artillery, aviation against us – this is some kind of nightmare going on in the early days. We were given no choice, there were no other options. If we had not defended ourselves, then I will say this: the proud part of our people was liberated, but those who were not protected would long ago have been enslaved by Georgia. I can’t say otherwise.
– We often say that it would have been even harder for the defenders of Abkhazia in the first war if it were not for the explosion of the Inguri railway bridge on the night of August 14, which is attributed to the Zviadists, their field commander Loti Kobalia. In all cities and regions of Abkhazia…
“That’s not entirely true. From a historical point of view, at best, they could travel by rail to Agudzera, to Sukhum. Drive through Esher, Gudauta region, how could they? On the contrary, it made no sense for them to move further along the railway. Each time they had to be in the area in a military calm, “iron” and move on. The railroad would be very convenient for us. We would then have captured a lot from them at once. As for the Zviadists, I beg you… I know them well, after the war we find out to help them… They are nothing. These are people who know how to rally, but do not know how to fight. That’s all. Started ingloriously, ended ingloriously.
Well, last summer. This is the life of a generation, one might say. And there are different opinions: something worked out, something did not work out … What are the goals for which the defenders of Abkhazia fought, they were realized in general. What do you think?
– I completely agree with you. We, Abkhazians, are generally a maximalist people. We want everything at once. That doesn’t happen. There is a world practice, there are even people with a population of many millions who have not even passed half of our paths in such a time. We still have an older generation, our generation, which captured the Soviet era. The Soviet Union was a powerful state, a regime, one might even say a repressive regime. Abkhazia has chosen the path, not the Soviet Union, the rule of law, a democratic state. Today, one hundred percent of the entire territory of Abkhazia has been liberated, one hundred percent of the entire territory is under the jurisdiction of Abkhazia, the state authorities of Abkhazia. The most joyful thing for me is that I always open it and this confirmation is ready: a generation has grown up, a new generation of young people from 18 to 35 years old who do not know Soviet Abkhazia, they know only modern Abkhazia. They are very stable. And in our older generation, we already have to be in the role of assistants among young, energetic, educated people. Vladislav Ardzinba once said that we need to hold out for 15-20 years, and a younger generation will grow up, which Abkhazia will never give to anyone. And I see it. I see the behavior of our youth. It is very balanced, tough, principled and patriotic. If we still learn how to competently, without offending each other, to conduct a political struggle … In this commitment to both the authorities and the opposition – and I myself was an active figure in the struggle – we still far from used all our opportunities. We need to conduct political policy in the Abkhaz way. And in Abkhazian – what does it mean? Tough but respectful.”
The text contains toponyms and terminology used in the self-proclaimed republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia