Financial Times FT.com

Tbilisi admits misjudging Russia

By Jan Cienski in Tbilisi

Published: August 21 2008 19:21 | Last updated: August 21 2008 19:21

Georgia did not believe Russia would respond to its offensive in South Ossetia and was completely unprepared for the counter-attack, the deputy defence minister has admitted.

Batu Kutelia told the Financial Times that Georgia had made the decision to seize the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali despite the fact that its forces did not have enough anti-tank and air defences to protect themselves against the possibility of serious resistance.

Wreckage of a Georgian tank in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, last week. Substantial foreign aid will be needed to rebuild the country’s defensive capability, according to Batu Kutelia

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