2007 Georgia helicopter incident

Diplomatic incident involving Russia

Location of the Kodori Gorge

The 2007 Georgia helicopter incident refers to the accusation[1] by Georgia that three Russian helicopters fired on the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia on 11 March 2007. It was a break-away autonomous republic in north-western Georgia (at the time[2] the Kodori Gorge was the only portion of Abkhazia still under Georgia's control). The attack was at the village of Chkhalta, which damaged a school,[3] and the government headquarters of the Georgian-backed Abkhaz government-in-exile.[4] Russia denied any attacks and said all its aircraft near the area were grounded over the weekend.

## Reactions

[edit]

### Georgia

[edit]

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili held an emergency meeting after the alleged incident and told the Security Council 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 [Georgian] foreign minister has received instructions to contact his Russian counterpart and firmly demand that Russia react to this situation."[5]

On 14 March, Nikoloz Rurua, 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.[3] He further said that the "helicopters, preliminarily identified as Mi-24 attack gunships, flew [into the Kodori Gorge] from Russian territory or, to be precise, from the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria. 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

[edit]

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 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.[5]

### Abkhazia

[edit]

Abkhazia’s leader Sergei Bagapsh denied such incident.[5]

### United Nations

[edit]

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 2 April 2007, followed by a supplementary report on 13 June.[6] 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.[7]

## Aftermath

[edit]

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.[8]

On 22 August 2007, a 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.[9][10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Georgia Says Helicopters From Russia Attacked Gorge" in Radio Free Europe, 12 March 2007, [1] Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ it was then lost at the Battle of the Kodori Valley;
3. ^ a b "Georgian Official Says Kodori Attack Came From Russia" in Radio Free Europe, 14 March 2007, [2]
4. ^ Molly Corso, "Georgia: Kodori attack – fresh cause for conflict", 19 March 2007, [3]
5. ^ a b c "Georgia Says Helicopters From Russia Attacked Gorge". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
6. ^ Joint Fact-Finding Group Report on the Rocket Firing Incident in the upper Kodori valley on 11 March 2007[usurped]. JFFG Report Annexes[usurped]. United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia. 13 June 2007.
7. ^ UNOMIG Report on Kodori Attack. Civil Georgia. 12 July 2007.
8. ^ "Experts confirm jet entered Georgian airspace from Russia". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
9. ^ "Pro-Russian Abkhazia says Georgian plane crashed". 25 August 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2018 - via Reuters.
10. ^ "Georgia overflight dispute deepens". www.AlJazeera.com. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

* v
* t
* e

Abkhaz–Georgian conflict

Key events|

* April 9 tragedy
* 1989 Sukhumi riots
* 1991 Abkhazian New Union Treaty referendum
* 1991–1993 Georgian Civil War
* 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia
* 1992 Battle of Sukhumi
* October 1992 Battle of Gagra
* 1992–1993 Siege of Tkvarcheli
* July 1993 Kamani massacre
* September 1993 Transair Georgia airliner shootdowns
* September 1993 Sukhumi massacre
* Ethnic cleansing of Georgians
* 1993 Sochi agreement
* 1993–2009 United Nations observer mission
* 1994 Moscow agreement
* 1998 War in Abkhazia
* 2001 Kodori crisis
* 2006 Kodori crisis
* 2007 Georgia helicopter incident
* 2007 Georgia plane downing incident
* 2007 Bokhundjara incident
* 2008 Georgian spy plane shootdowns
* 2008 Khurcha incident
* 2008 Abkhazia bombings
* 2008 Achamkhara incident
* 2008 Russo-Georgian War
* Battle off the coast of Abkhazia
* Battle of the Kodori Valley
* 2008 Post-war events
* 2009 Russo-Georgian relations
* 2014 Abkhazian revolution

Abkhazian side|

| Military forces|

* Military of Abkhazia
* Abkhazian Air Force
* Bagramyan Battalion
* Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus

|

Key leaders|

* Vladislav Ardzinba
* Sergei Bagapsh †
* Alexander Ankvab
* Raul Khajimba

Georgian side|

| Military forces|

* Georgian Armed Forces
* Georgian Air Force
* Coast Guard of Georgia
* Mkhedrioni
* White Legion
* Forest Brothers

|

Key leaders|

* Zviad Gamsakhurdia †
* Eduard Shevardnadze
* Mikheil Saakashvili
* Giorgi Margvelashvili
* Salome Zourabichvili

See also|

* Abkhazia–Georgia separation line

* v
* t
* e

Georgia–Russia relations

Diplomatic posts|

* Embassy of Georgia, Moscow
* Ambassadors of Georgia to Russia
* Embassy of Russia, Tbilisi

Diplomacy|

* Treaty of Georgievsk
* Treaty of Moscow (1920)

Conflicts|

* 1804 Mtiuleti rebellion
* Svaneti uprising of 1875–1876
* Red Army invasion of Georgia
* Sochi conflict
* Georgian–Ossetian conflict
* Georgian Civil War
* 1991–1992 Georgian coup d'état
* 1991–1992 South Ossetia War
* War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)
* Sochi agreement
* Russo-Georgian War
* 2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis
* Geneva International Discussions
* Occupied territories of Georgia
* International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia

Incidents|

* 1832 Georgian plot
* 1920 Georgian coup attempt
* Rose Revolution
* 2004 Adjara crisis
* 2006 Russia–Georgia energy crisis
* 2006 Russian ban of Moldovan and Georgian wines
* 2006 Kodori crisis
* 2006 Georgian–Russian espionage controversy
* 2006 deportation of Georgians from Russia
* 2007 Georgia helicopter incident
* 2007 Georgia missile incident
* 2007 Abkhazia plane downing incident
* Cyxymu
* 2010 Georgian news report hoax
* 2019 Georgian protests

Related|

* Georgia–Russia border
* Georgia within the Russian Empire
* History of rugby union matches between Georgia and Russia
* Alliance of Patriots of Georgia
* Alt-Info

Category
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template