Video: Captured Russian pilot being interrogated by Georgian side

Video: Captured Russian pilot being interrogated by Georgian side

www.youtube.com

Reportedly, one of the Russian pilots of the bomber air jet, shot down by the Georgian side, managed ejection.

The pilot has been detained by the Georgian forces. As it has been reported, his interrogation is being held at present.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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Anyone here speak Russian that can translate this for us?

Geneva Conventions, anyone? I thought it was against them to show prisoners of war in the media?

But then again this is all happening so fast, Georgia's got much bigger problems on their hands to worry about stuff like this.

Another video of Bush's statements:


He says attacks are occurring far outside the zone of conflict, and that Georgia is a sovereign territory and must be respected, as well as "We take this very seriously."

Why soooo seriously? They are not a member of NATO, and probably a good thing at the moment, seeing as NATO would have likely been drawn in. The answer imho: oil.

USA behind this for oil?


I've also been trying to find out what weapon was fired at the plane(s), but so far no luck. From USA Today:

Utiashvili would not say what weapons were fired at the plane. Under an agreement between Georgia and the internationally unrecognized government of Abkhazia, which broke away from central government control in the early 1990s, Georgian defense ministry forces and heavy weaponry cannot be deployed in the Kodori Gorge. Interior Ministry forces are not prohibited.

But it might be an S-200, given an incident which happened years ago:

Experts Believe Russian Plane Shot Down by Missile
Experts investigating the recent crash of a Russian TU-154 airliner in the Black Sea claimed that they had discovered fragments of an S-200 anti-aircraft missile in the plane's wreckage, Interfax reported Tuesday.

The agency quoted an expert on condition of anonymity that " there are serious reasons to believe that there are fragments of an S-200 missile in the plane's wreckage.

But then again, could it have shot down by some US-supplied anti-aircraft system?

Interestingly, globalsecurity.org has very little on the subject.

www.youtube.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 9-8-2008 by TrueAmerican]

[edit on 9-8-2008 by TrueAmerican]

As an exercise, I had an interest in identifying this "claimed" dead Russian pilot in this video- *Warning Graphic*- as indeed being Russian. Kind of tough for me to do seeing as I am not too clear what a Russian pilot's current uniform might look like, and there seems to be little available on the net.

But the helmet does offer a clue, and I was able to find one picture of a Russian pilot that does seem similar, lending a touch of credence to the claim. Maybe some of you can chime in here and tell me what you think. Watch the video, paying close attention to the helmet:



Now take a look at this picture from a somewhat recent Russian pilot in a plane from this source



The black spots on the helmet do certainly appear similar to the ones on the dead pilot's helmet. Yes, no, maybe?

[edit on 10-8-2008 by TrueAmerican]

Post a link to that video on this thread, I think some of the people posting there speak Russian.

reply to post by TrueAmerican




If Georgia would be a member of NATO Russia wouldn't have the balls to attack and invade. Just being a member of such and organization like that carries with it a certain degree of deterrence. That may not be the case 100% of the time but I'd still put money on it in this case.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


Geneva Conventions? Puh-lease, that man is an enemy combatant! Bring out the car batteries! His testicles must fry in order to obtain "information," for the fate of an entire nation depends on it! Glad we cleared that up.

reply to post by LiquidMirage


Hmm, I might not be so willing to take that bet in this case. Georgia's too close to home for the Russians, and they have a vested interest in the separatists seeing as 90% have Russian passports. And did you hear what the Russian President said about them having a duty by law to protect their citizens?

But you are right to a large degree. It certainly would have made them think about attacking Georgia a lot harder.

Translation from Russian:

The first pilot states that he is the assistant pilot - implying that he is not the commanding pilot of the aircraft. He was part of a reconnaissance flight to monitor the movement of Georgian troops and artillery, as well as S. Ossetian militia. The flight was directed by the Russian military recon headquarters. After being asked if he took part in any bombing, he says that he is only a reconnaissance pilot. (He appears to be very drowsy - perhaps some medication? However besides some light face burns and an injured arms he appears to be fine).

Second pilot: Remembers the plane being struck by a missile. He lost consciousness. He woke up already on the ground. He states that due to his head injury he cannot recall the specifics of the mission.

reply to post by maloy


Thanks so much maloy!

Very interesting, because it would seem to me that some form of pretty sophisticated missile would have to be used to down a Russian aircraft, no? And I guess what I am getting at here is that I suspect that either the US had something to do with it, or may have supplied the Georgian military with a sophisticated enough system to do it with.

Georgia was seeking an air defense system back in 2004-2005, that much I have read. I can dig up the links if needed. But I couldn't find much on if they were able to obtain a system capable of doing this. And don't recon aircraft fly at very high altitudes, making them tougher to hit?

Yes that was supposedly a high-altitude recon jet that got shot down (Tu-22M is rumored). Not very easy to do without the proper toys.

reply to post by maloy


ok, so in your opinion, what kind of missile would be needed to down one of those puppies?

And also, did you see my post above about the identification of the dead Russian pilot? You have any opinion on that?

Originally posted by TrueAmerican
ok, so in your opinion, what kind of missile would be needed to down one of those puppies?

No clue.

Originally posted by TrueAmerican
And also, did you see my post above about the identification of the dead Russian pilot? You have any opinion on that?

Yes those images have been shown in Russian and Georgian sources for a long time now (first about 24 hours ago). From what I hear the helmet is Russian, and there is not reason to believe that it isn't a Russian pilot.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


Forgive me if I seem to be a little off the 8 ball on this subject but I just can’t help but think this is nothing more (or less) than a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia. Does anybody else get that impression?

This is the reason I said that Russia wouldn’t have the balls to go after Georgia if it was part of NATO. Would Russia run the risk of a full blown war with the west over Georgia? I highly doubt it but that’s just my opinion.

Tu-22M is a supersonic nuclear bomber.

(Not a one-liner).

Actually there is a high-altitude recon version.

Russians never build aircraft specifically for recon - they converted other aircraft for the role.

Correct, but incorrect, Tu-22 in its base configuration is a supersonic strategic bomber, roughly comparable to american B1.

But TU-22PD is used solely on maritime reconnaissanse and the newer TU-22RDM is all-round recon bird used in maritime, battlefield and electronic recon. (Blinder C and Blinder E in NATO naming system)

Bah, Maloy beat me to it
[edit on 10-8-2008 by northwolf]

[edit on 10-8-2008 by northwolf]

Originally posted by LiquidMirage
reply to post by TrueAmerican

 

Forgive me if I seem to be a little off the 8 ball on this subject but I just can’t help but think this is nothing more (or less) than a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia. Does anybody else get that impression?

This is the reason I said that Russia wouldn’t have the balls to go after Georgia if it was part of NATO. Would Russia run the risk of a full blown war with the west over Georgia? I highly doubt it but that’s just my opinion.

No one wants to war with mutually assured destruction (that is, if Russia still has all their nukes). If it is a proxy war, and this is what Dick Cheney wanted, expect to head for the mountains soon.

Originally posted by pluckynoonez

expect to head for the mountains soon.

I wouldn't go that far. This will look real bad for a short time but it will fizzle out soon enough just like the U.S. / Soviet proxy wars from the 1950's through the 1980's.

The lack of information on exactly what kind of anti aircraft systems Georgia has is becoming rather conspicuous after some searching. And suspicious even. Especially of the type that could take out a high flying modern Russian aircraft.

But so many things affect what we can really believe at this point:

1) We don't know exactly what kind of Russian aircraft that was. That captured Russian pilot may be intentionally lying. And if I am not mistaken, most military personnel that could become POW's are specifically trained for the event, are they not?

2) While the Russians clearly know the risks of war, one would think that they would anticipate a response based upon their intel of the AA systems currently in use in Georgia. Or at least what they think is there.

3) Since it was more than one aircraft, whatever Georgia has is somewhat effective, that much we know.

4) We've seen video of lower flying Russian aircraft, opening up the possibility that it could have been one of those taken out with a portable launcher sporting something like a FIM-92 Stinger, or less, in which case maybe the US wasn't directly involved other than the possible provision of those to Georgia.

Who knows? But they sure did grab that pilot pretty quick. Someone knows by now a lot of info on those planes, and what took them down. And something tells me I'm not the only one wondering, either. Some reports are there were 5 shot down, in which case I really have to wonder WTF the Russians are doing. Or what the Georgians might really have, is more the point.

There is not enough information to be sure of just how deep US or NATO involvement in this mess will go. The sad part for the average citizen is to have to be 10 steps behind what is really going on. By the time we know this escalates, we could all be dead, with the NWO safely secured in their hideaways. These days escalation is measured in bigger and badder buttons which don't take all that long to press.