2007 Georgia helicopter incident
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The 2007 Georgia helicopter incident refers to the accusation by
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
that three
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n helicopters fired on the
Kodori Gorge The Kodori Valley, also known as the Kodori Gorge ( ka, კოდორის ხეობა, ab, Кәыдырҭа, Kwydyrta), is a river valley in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway autonomous republic. The valley's upper part, populated by Svans, ...
in
Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...
on March 11, 2007. It was a break-away autonomous republic in north-western Georgia (at that time,It has since been lost at the
Battle of the Kodori Valley The Battle of the Kodori Valley was a military operation during the Russo-Georgian War in the Upper Kodori Valley of Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia. It was the only part of Abkhazia under Georgian control before this military conflict. ...
the Kodori Gorge was the only portion of Abkhazia still under Georgia's control.) The attack was at the village of
Chkhalta Chkhalta ( ka, ჩხალთა; ab, Чҳалҭа; russian: Чхалта) is a village in the upper part of the Kodori Valley, situated in Gulripshi District, Abkhazia, a breakaway republic from Georgia. History Prior to August 2008, Chkhal ...
, which damaged a school, and the government headquarters of the Georgian-backed Abkhaz government-in-exile.Molly Corso, "Georgia: Kodori attack - fresh cause for conflict", March 19, 2007

/ref> Russia denied any attacks and said all its aircraft near the area were grounded over the weekend.


Reactions


Georgia

Georgian President
Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.
held an emergency meeting after the alleged incident and told the
Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...
that the incident created a grave situation and constituted "a very dangerous, serious and far-reaching provocation" but he stopped short of pointing the finger at Russia directly. He said that he didn't "want to make accusations against one particular side. The eorgianforeign minister has received instructions to contact his Russian counterpart and firmly demand that Russia react to this situation." On March 14,
Nikoloz Rurua Nikoloz (Nika) Rurua ( ka, ნიკოლოზ (ნიკა) რურუა; 17 March 1968 – 4 December 2018) was a Georgian politician, and a member of the Cabinet of Georgia in the capacity of Minister of Culture and Monument Protectio ...
, the then deputy chairman of the Georgian parliament's Committee for Defense and Security, did point the finger at Russia as he said that the helicopters came from Russian territory."Georgian Official Says Kodori Attack Came From Russia" in ''
Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
'', March 14, 2007

/ref> He further said that the "helicopters, preliminarily identified as
Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been o ...
attack gunships, flew nto the Kodori Gorgefrom Russian territory or, to be precise, from the territory of
Kabardino-Balkaria The Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (russian: Кабарди́но-Балка́рская Респу́блика, ''Kabardino-Balkarskaya Respublika''; kbd, Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр Республикэ, ''Ķêbêrdej-Baĺķêr Respublik ...
. They made a circle above the villages of Upper Abkhazia, and as they were making a second circle they dropped about 20 unguided rockets, or so-called NURS (Russian-made unguided) rockets." Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Eka Sguladze made similar allegations in remarks to foreign diplomats that day.


Russia

The deputy commander of Russia's ground forces, Lieutenant General Valery Yevnevich responded that helicopters could not have flown over the Caucasus mountain range. Yevnevich said:
"From the Russian side, it is impossible for helicopters to find a passage to fly through because of the high mountains.
Mount Elbrus Mount Elbrus ( rus, links=no, Эльбрус, r=Elbrus, p=ɪlʲˈbrus; kbd, Ӏуащхьэмахуэ, 'uaşhəmaxuə; krc, Минги тау, Mingi Taw) is the highest and most prominent peak in Russia and Europe. It is situated in the we ...
is over 5,000 meters high. Helicopters cannot fly over the Caucasus mountain range for technical reasons."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin added that Russia was investigating the circumstances of the shooting, but noted that the air force said it did not conduct flights in the area at the time.


Abkhazia

Abkhazia’s leader
Sergei Bagapsh Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh, ka, სერგეი ბაგაფში, russian: Сергей Васильевич Багапш, translit=Sergey Vasilyevich Bagapsh (4 March 1949 – 29 May 2011) was an Abkhaz politician who served as th ...
denied such incident.


United Nations

A quadripartite Joint Fact-Finding Group (JFFG) was convened to investigate the incident. The JFFG, headed by the UN Observer Mission in Georgia, also involved representatives of Russian peacekeepers, and both the Georgian and Abkhaz sides. The interim report was released on April 2, 2007, followed by a supplementary report on June 13. The report was inconclusive, but it confirmed that "helicopters used multiple approaches from the north" to reach the upper Kodori Gorge. It also ruled out the possibility of Georgia's involvement in the incident.


Aftermath

Georgia accused Russia of a similar incident in August 2007 when a missile was allegedly fired upon Georgian soil, which was denied by Russia. Georgia pressed the UN Security Council to look into both the helicopter and the missile incident."Experts Confirm Jet Entered Georgian Airspace From Russia" in ''
Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
'', August 16, 2007

/ref> On August 22, 2007, a 2007 Abkhazia plane downing incident, plane downing incident took place that involved the downing by Georgia's anti-aircraft system, of a military plane that violated Georgia's air space. Abkhazia's break-away government stated that a plane was crashed by itself, and rejected that it was shot down.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2007 Georgia Helicopter Incident Georgia helicopter incident Helicopter incident Abkhaz–Georgian conflict Georgia (country)–Russia relations Georgia Helicopter Attack, 2007 Helicopter incident Georgia Helicopter Attack, 2007 March 2007 events in Asia Helicopter attacks 2007 airstrikes