RUSSIAN & GEORGIAN NAVIES CLASH AT SEA?

By Special Correspondents
Mike Barlow and Charles Strathdee

Russian Navy warships were reportedly involved in a sea battle as the Kremlin’s campaign to subdue the former Soviet republic of Georgia gathered momentum.  The maritime clash - the first such hot surface engagement to involve Russian naval forces since WW2 - took place off the rebel Georgian region of Abkhazia. Two Georgian naval missile craft were alleged to have lunged at a task group including the missile cruiser Moskva and guided-missile destroyer Smitlivyy as well as amphibious assault ships. The Georgians launched missiles, which failed to hit their targets but the Russians were more successful, reportedly sinking one of their assailants. Official confirmation of the clash was not forthcoming from either side.

The incident seemed to validate claims by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili that Russia had deployed warships from its Black Sea Fleet to mount a blockade.  It was claimed that the Russians had turned back several ships bound for Georgia carrying humanitarian supplies, including Lotus I, a Moldovan-flagged merchant vessel carrying wheat. Russia denied that the deployment of ships off Georgia’s coast constituted a blockade but the situation was complicated further when Ukraine indicated it might bar Black Sea Fleet warships from re-entry to their base at Sevastapol. An agreement signed in 1977 allows the Russian Navy to remain based in Sevastapol until 2017 and Moscow has been enlarging and modifying its major naval facility on the other side of the Black Sea, at Novorossiysk where warships could be based during the current crisis if Ukraine makes good on its threat. The flotilla off Georgia was believed to include three amphibious assault ships, two Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) vessels, a reconnaissance ship, two minesweepers, two missile boats, the cruiser and destroyer plus air cover form a variety of aircraft.  Alexander Lomaia, Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia reportedly accused Russia of resurrecting designs on its former base at the Abkhazian port of Ochamchire. Four thousand naval infantry were said to have been landed by the Russian Navy in Abhkazia as armoured formations, paratroopers and heavy artillery units stormed into South Ossetia. The United States condemned the Russian naval movements, describing them as ‘escalatory’ on top of the land invasion. Speaking in Beijing, where he is part of America’s high-profile delegation at the Olympic Games, Deputy National Security Advisor Ambassador Jim Jeffrey said: “We're alarmed by this entire situation, and every escalatory step is a further problem.” The huge military disparity between Georgia and Russia means that any attempt by Tbilisi to exert influence at sea is unlikely to be successful. Georgia’s navy has a total manpower of less than 1,500 and comprises a mix of ex-Soviet missile and patrol boats, including a Matka (Vikhr) Class semi-hydrofoil patrol boat displacing 233 tons and armed with a Styx SSN2C launcher and light guns.  In addition Georgia took possession of an ex-Greek Navy Combattante 11 Class patrol boat in 2004, delivered without Exocet missiles and armed with a twin 35mm Oerlikon cannon and torpedoes. Romania is believed to have delivered a corvette in 2000 although its seaworthiness must now be open to question. Russia’s mighty Black Sea Fleet does not bear comparison, even in its current degraded condition after years of under-investment following the break-up of the Soviet Union. The presence of that fleet in its massive Sevastapol facility has long been an irritation to Ukraine, despite the 1977 accord. The Ukraine parliament is already considering a bill on the departure of the fleet, a move which Russia’s foreign ministry has described as ‘premature’ and Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko in later July has called for talks on the immediate withdrawal of Russian naval forces from the Crimea.  As hostilities continued, global concern mounted over the potential fallout for troubled economies. A significant proportion of global oil supplies is dependent on stability in the Caucasus, a region that has always been volatile at best. Concerns were highlighted when Georgia’s strategic oil port of Poti came under attack from Russian strike plane, raising the spectre of disruption to supplies. Poti is a staging post for energy supplies through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which transports oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey. The pipeline is the world’s second longest and carries one per cent of global oil needs, or one million barrels a day. It is 30 per cent owned by British energy giant BP, which is already locked in a dispute with Russia over joint venture TNK-BP. The pipeline itself has been attacked by Russian jets, although no serious damage has yet been suffered. Reports indicate that 51 missile strikes were recorded in the early days of the war between Georgia and Russia, some less than 100 metres from a pressure vent. The danger is that oil prices could resume their upward march after falling back from recent highs of nearly US $150 a barrel, with attendant risk to global economies already struggling to avoid recession. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan facility is the only oil and gas route in the region not influenced by Russian energy policy and, as such, has huge strategic importance for Western Europe, which is significantly dependent on Moscow for its energy.

Above: The Russian cruiser Moskva leads a NATO group at sea during a recent joint exercise in the Mediterranean. The Moskva  is alleged to have been involved in a battle with Georgian patrol craft. 
Photo: PO (Phot) Gary Davies/Royal Navy.

The Russian cruiser Moskva at sea. She  is alleged to have been involved in a battle with Georgian patrol craft. 
Photo: PO (Phot) Gary Davies/Royal Navy.