Kremlin media soldier blames 2008 Georgia conflict for current Armenia-Russia controversy
The Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, explained in an interview with France 24 that Armenia suspended its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization. This decision is largely attributed to Russia's public incitement for the Armenian population to overthrow the government. In Moscow, the anti-government propaganda targeted at the head of the Armenian government continues unabated.
Russia was taken aback by the situation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov conceded on Zvezda TV that Armenia has not initiated any official actions - a claim that is evidently untrue.
Now, Russian propagandists have added their opinions to the mix, with Vladimir Solovyov being particularly vocal.
"There would be no problem in Armenia if we hadn't halted in 2008. If we had resolved the issue with Georgia, we would share a land border with Armenia and life in Armenia would be entirely different," the propagandist remarked.
Vladimir Solovyov is one of the prime figures of Kremlin propaganda. Over the past few months, the Rossija 1 state television presenter has incessantly discussed the war in Ukraine. Furthermore, he has defended all of Vladimir Putin's decisions and sought to justify the crimes perpetrated by Russian soldiers on the frontline.
On the night of August 7 to 8, 2008, Georgia launched an offensive aimed at reclaiming the pro-Russian separatist region of South Ossetia. Russia retaliated with a wide-scale military operation.
The conflict, which spanned several days, resulted in two Moscow-backed separatist regions of Georgia - Abkhazia and South Ossetia - proclaiming independence. This move was only recognized by Russia and a few other nations: Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Tuvalu. The rest of the global community continued to regard these republics as parts of Georgia.
The battle left roughly 1000 people dead, including around 600 civilians, and created about 138,000 refugees in the region. Unable to return home, around 30,000 of these were from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, predominantly ethnic Georgians.
