Russia Tied to Attack Near US Embassy in Georgia

The Georgian Interior Ministry is accusing Russian intelligence of being behind an explosion near the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi last September, which Senator Mark Kirk warns “would constitute the most serious crisis in U.S.-Russian relations since the Cold War .” Russia was also tied to a dozen other bomb plots last year. Russia has not given up its goal of destabilizing and dominating the U.S. ally.

Georgia has charged Major Yevgeny Borisov, an officer in the Russian GRU military-intelligence service, of orchestrating at least a dozen bomb plots last year. This includes a September 22 explosion about 100 yards from the U.S. embassy. Senator Mark Kirk sounded persuaded by the evidence, saying “These are extraordinarily specific and detailed allegations by the government of Georgia.”

Georgia found that the bombing suspects would call a GRU operative named Mukhran Tskhadaia in Abkhazia after every detonation, who is the deputy to Borisov. The Russians seized Abkhazia from Georgia in 2008 and maintain a military presence there. The Georgian government also says it discovered that photographers for the Georgian president and foreign minister were found to be GRU spies.