TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — In a bid to portray Russia as the aggressor in last month’s war, Georgia has released recordings of what it says are two intercepted cell phone calls purporting to show that Moscow invaded before Georgia’s offensive against South Ossetia. The recordings released Tuesday, if authentic, will not cut through the fog of the final hours when escalating tensions burst into war. But President Mikhail Saakashvili hopes they will help dispel a dominant narrative that says his country was on the attack. He said they prove Russian tanks and troops entered South Ossetia many hours before Georgia began its offensive against separatist forces.
Georgia: Intercepted calls prove self-defense
September 15, 2008