Putin fooled by his own media's disinformation

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:13:01 +0200

Putin pounced on a Fox News interview in which an Ossetian woman trying to praise Russia is cut off by the interviewer. Maybe he'd only seen the Russian-dubbed version, when the interviewer, almost comically, coughs and hums loudly over her speech.

When Vladimir Putin was invited to speak on CNN on 28 August, he made a point of bringing up the Fox News interview of a young Ossetian of US nationality, who was visiting Tskhinvali when she witnessed combat between Russia and Georgia. The 12-year-old had come to the studio accompanied by her aunt. After describing what she saw in South Ossetia, she condemned the Georgian attack and thanked the Russians for their help. Her aunt then continued the anti-Georgian attack by blaming president Saakashvili for the war- until she was cut off by a well-timed publicity break.

Although the pair reappeared on the channel after the break, the Russian blogosphere saw the event as proof of censorship by the American media, who they said refused to hear the truth, and placed the ad break to shut up the girl and her aunt. However, the version they were basing their attacks on had been retouched, to emphasise this supposed censorship, by Russian broadcasters. And it's also that version that Putin makes reference to during his interview with CNN.

The dark side of South Ossetia

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:34:19 +0200

Just after Russian forces stormed the South Ossetian capital, celebrated Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, who grew up in Ossetia, gave a concert to honour the victory. Our Observer there managed to photograph the event with his mobile.

Gergiev gave the concert in Tskhinvali on 21 August. At the same time, the capital of South Ossetia lay in ruins, and Russian troops were rumoured to be carrying out ethnic cleansing just kilometres away from the scene. The conductor arrived on stage with a group of children. In his speech, which was aired live on Russian TV, he condemned Georgia for carrying out a genocide.

A few metres from the concert, Georgian hostages watched the event from the barracks they were being held in. Our Observer managed to access this zone, prohibited to journalists, and take these pictures with his phone. In the foreground you can see the Georgian hostages, and in the back, Gergiev's concert.

South Ossetia: "without the Russians we’d all be dead"

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:39:14 +0200

Russia has ordered an end to its military operation in South Ossetia, although a date has yet to be set for the withdrawal of Russian troops, which invaded the Georgian breakaway province on Friday. Our Observers in North Ossetia, South Ossetia and Georgia comment on the situation.

Our Russian Observer's blog review on Ossetia

Julien — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:03:06 +0200

Blog review sent to us by our Russian Observer, Ostap Karmodi.

karamazoff_an – a young Russian from Moscow. Post in Russian.

I’m trying not to watch TV, but because of the events in South Ossetia I had to increase my dosage of this dope. The more I watch it the less I understand what’s happening there! They show Georgian troops marching into a peaceful city and starting to bomb apartment houses, schools and hospitals. In Europe and the US they show Russians doing the same things. Both sides of the conflict say that they are only defending themselves. Of course, I believe Russian TV more, but it strikes me as strange nevertheless – how can a country occupy a city that is, in fact, its own, and shoot its own people? Is it really that Saakashvily wants to please his boss so badly that he’s ready to kill 2000 people so that everyone would feel sorry for him and accept him into NATO? I can’t understand the stance of former Soviet republics – they used to complain about the years of Russian oppression, and now they’re bending over backwards to please their new master, the USA, and serve as a decoy in whatever new intrigue. I can’t understand the EU, which depends so much on both Russian gas and American economy that it can’t make a decision and prefers to stay away and watch this blood bath, too scared to remember about the human rights. I can’t understand what Russia and the US are trying to divide - natural resources, military and nuclear advantage? Or are they just settling old scores? But what I understand less of all – why should ordinary people suffer as a result? It’s not as a one villain is to blame for all this massacre. Not even one state. We are all to blame, everyone is guilty in a sense".

fredrus – another young Russian from Moscow. Post in Russian.

War in South Ossetia demonstrates that the Russian Government has finally got some guts. But the question is – how long will it last? The truth is on our side – that's quite obvious. We protect the weak; and the Georgian aggression is disgusting. But our attitude in regard to the Georgian criminals in Russia looks at least strange. Why do we fight Georgia in South Ossetia but let these guys make money in our country on the black market - the money they partly use to finance the criminal regime of Saakashvili? I believe we should be consistent here. I'd like to stress that I'm not talking about all ethnic Georgians, or about people who have the legal right to be in Russia. I'm talking only of those who are involved in illegal business and crime. It seems that right now Americans, with the help of their puppet Georgian government, are trying to accomplish the objective that they haven't been able to meet in the twentieth century with the help of Chechen rebels, or the objective the British couldn't achieve in the nineteenth century. They want to destabilize Caucasus and to weaken Russia".

taki-net – an older (in his 50s) Russian blogger from Moscow. Post in Russian.

The blogs that I read are full of curses to awful Saakashvili. But there's one small detail that escapes everybody's attention. Saakashvili can be a monstrous villain, who wants to build his reputation on Ossetian and Georgian blood. Or he can be an enduring sufferer who postpone until the last moment a reaction to the armed pressure and make this decision unwillingly. It affects only evaluation of his personal merits. But it doesn't affect the fact that the Georgian state acted on it's own land. In response, the Russian state invaded in Georgia and performs military operations on Georgian land. It's called "aggression against a sovereign state" and the UN Charter unequivocally forbids it. It's true whatever theory we have about the motives and the personality of the Georgian president, about the timeline of the conflict, etc. The army of our country is involved in an aggression against our neighbors. And it's us who bear moral responsibility for the leaders of this country. Instead, we are discussing ethics of a foreign leader, who we hasn't elect, to who we don't pay taxes and for who we do not bear any responsibility".

Georgians Sam – a Russian woman living in Georgian town Poti. Post in Russian.

We were been very worried about Ossetia, we discussed the war but nobody in my office, nobody around me said that it's good that we had entered Ossetia, everybody was very worried. •• Around midnight I heard some noise. I rushed to the window and saw fires, explosions in the port, and I heard a deafening blast. I didn't even have time to be afraid, I just knew that if it shot an oil cistern, there would be a big fire. … The explosions and sounds of artillery shooting continued. Somebody ran and cried that we should leave, so we ran as well. Some planes flew, somebody shot on them from the ground, the sky rambled. •• We left to the farthest district from the port, to my sister. Moska cried, she was very afraid, she had been born in 1994, and didn't see how we ran in 1992 when Georgian army fought in Poti the Zviadist rebels. •••• Later we found out that a bomb had been dropped onto port terminal. My colleague worked night shift had wounds, his head, lungs and ribs had been damaged. There were dead in the port, may be seven people, there were wounded as well. A guy who worked in company working with Odessa-Poti ferry line was killed. They brought dead from Senaki as well, one more our employee is wounded by a bomb. ... I'm not a politician and I don't personally know any politician that think it's all right. I don't divide people into Ossetians, Georgians and Russians. We are Russians but we have Georgian relatives, my son in law is a Ukrainian, grandma of my friend is Ossetian, but what the hell is the difference? What is important is that all this ended as soon as possible and nobody else died. Some people write that we, Georgians, deserved it. Why did we? What's our guilt? Are the Georgian peoples monsters, is their blood not as red as everybody's else? I can't look at the crying elders. Nobody here never told me that it's because of you, Russians. Nobody and never. Probably there is somebody here who could tell me. But I never met them. …. It's our country now, we have Georgian passports, we are normal Georgian citizens. That's why I feel like I'm cracking apart when I stay on the Georgian soil and Russian planes are flying over me. I still can't believe that these countries are in war with each other".

Cyxymu – a Georgian refugee from Abkhazia living in Tbilisi. (the nickname is after his home town Sikhumi – Сухуми in Russian). Post in Russian.

The Russian army has taken Gori, and is preparing for the siege of Tbilisi. Putin's self-esteem is way off scale - he sees himself as Suvorov (the most famous Russian commander of XVIII century who has never lost a battle), or at least as Bagration (a famous Russian commander of XIX century, a Georgian noble). No, sorry, Bagration was a Georgian, and Putin hates Georgians. He wants to overthrow Georgian authorities, he sees himself as an Emperor who decides the fates of entire nations. Saakashvili called the Georgian Security council, he's going to give Russia the last battle outside of the city. People in the streets are jumping into their cars and fleeing, possibly to Baku. It's too late to leave now, so I will blog to the last minute. It will be amazing if Russia will make me a refugee for the second time.".