“Two years ago today, Georgia provoked a bloody conflict,”
Medvedev said in televised remarks. “This day will forever remain in our memory
as a day of mourning and the day when Russia made a decision to protect
peaceful civilians.” Medvedev addressed Russian troops stationed in the key
Black Sea port of Gudauta in Abkhazia — one of the two separatist provinces
whose independence Moscow recognized after the brief war in August 2008.
The conflict erupted after Georgian troops tried to regain
control over the other province, South Ossetia. Separatist authorities and
Moscow accused Georgia of genocide.
Russia quickly deployed thousands of troops in both
provinces, securing its presence in the strategic region that lies between the
Caspian and Black seas and is close to Iran.
The war sent Moscow’s ties with the West to Cold War levels.
Moscow’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia remains a major source of
tensions between Moscow and Washington. Only three other nations consider the
regions independent.
The regions spun out of Georgia’s control in the early 1990s
after a series of violent conflicts that was followed by massive deportations
and ethnic cleansing on all sides.
Medvedev arrived in Abkhazia Sunday to hold talks with the
Kremlin-friendly separatist government.
He said Moscow will boost investment in Soviet-era resorts
to turn Abkhazia into a magnet for Russian tourists.