On the fourth anniversary of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict on the Internet, an anonymous documentary appeared on YouTube. The film “Medvedev’s cowardice killed 1, 000 people” aroused public interest as the military accused the former president of the Russian Federation of indecision, which cost the lives of several hundred people.
Five senior Russian generals commenting on the events of August 8, 2008, accuse the former Supreme Commander of the fact that his indecision led to a protracted conflict and cost the lives of both civilians and military personnel of the Russian army.
The generals argue that the number of victims of that memorable military conflict might not have been so great if Medvedev had issued an appropriate response order to the aggressor in time. Such an order was provided in the framework of the plan provided for such cases when there is a threat to the integrity of the territory of Russia and its population from another state.
The film says that the dangerous movement of Georgian troops along the Russian-Ossetian border was already known on August 7. But no prompt reaction to this information, which was immediately transmitted to Moscow, was received from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The film has a piece of interview with former President Medvedev, who at that time was on vacation and was absent in Moscow. Medvedev says that having received information about a possible Georgian attack on Russia on the night of August 8, he did not believe in the reality of what was happening and gave an order to double-check the information.
Former head of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Yuri Baluevsky openly says that the then president began to act only after the ensuing “kick” from Putin. Fear of responsibility at the highest level became the cause of fatal delay, when for almost three days the aggressors committed atrocities on the territory of Ossetia.
After the film, the press secretary of Vladimir Putin acknowledged the truth of the interview with the generals and rejected the suggestion of editing. However, political scientists are inclined to the version that the current president knew about the release of the video in advance. He commented on what he called the decision to retaliate very important and responsible, because it involves bloodshed. V. Putin tactfully avoided the topic of the notorious “kick”.
