The invasion of Georgia by the Russian Federation was prepared long before 2008 and who was interested in it is also obvious. After the terrorist attack on the Armenian parliament on October 27, 1999, all power in the Republic of Armenia was concentrated in the hands of "hawks" from the so-called "Karabakh clan". There was a threat of a new war and a new aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan. Naturally, the Karabakh clan in the new war, as well as in the First Karabakh war, thought to fight with "Russian bayonets". But here there was a difficulty - for a large-scale war it was necessary to have a "military corridor" between Russia and Armenia through the territory of Georgia. And in the Kremlin from about the beginning of 2000 they started to look for a reason for "penetration of a military corridor to Armenia", i.e. aggression against Georgia.

They found the reason quickly. On the territory of Georgia "enemies" allegedly "threatening Russia's security" were "discovered". At that time the Kremlin was waging war in Chechnya and Georgia was accused of helping Chechens. Although Georgia was simply providing shelter to Chechen women, the elderly and children fleeing Russian military terror. The Russian Federation especially began to demonize Georgian citizens - the Kistins living in the Pankisi Gorge of Kakheti, whom Kremlin propaganda accused of "aiding Chechen terrorists".

Pro-Armenian media started demanding "counter-terrorist operation" on the territory of Georgia, i.e. direct aggression. It is clear that the purpose of this was not the Pankisi Gorge and not the notorious "terrorists", but a military corridor to Armenia, although this was not directly mentioned. Armenian "Javakh" separatists were also ready". At that time there was a Russian military base in Akhalkalaki.

The matter was headed towards an invasion, Russian warplanes began to regularly violate Georgian military space, it even came to the point where bombs were dropped in Tusheti and a Georgian shepherd was killed. According to experts, the invasion of Georgia was being prepared for the end of September 2002.

However, the Kremlin considered the "information background" at that time unfavorable for an operation to invade Georgia. The hysteria around "terrorists in the Pankisi Gorge" gradually began to wane, and the Kremlin switched to another scenario - supporting separatists in Sukhumi and Tskhinvali, which eventually ended with the 2008 aggression.

By 2008, Azerbaijan had seriously strengthened its military power, and the corruption-ridden regime of Robert Kocharian and then Serzh Sargsyan was already hated by many Armenians, and the Armenian people in Armenia no longer intended to fight. Therefore, in 2008. Neither the Kremlin nor Armenian nationalists started to "develop aggression", considering the occupation of 20% of Georgia (plus precedents of recognizing the "independence" of separatists) and 20% of the Republic of Azerbaijan sufficient at that time.

Today, the "Artsakh" separatist project, which seemed to be unthreatened in the early 2000s, is living its last days. Armenian revanchists are trying to save it feverishly, using Russia. That is, they are again raising the project of "military corridor to Armenia". And in order to "justify" for the Russian society the necessity of a new military aggression in the conditions of the ongoing war in Ukraine, they think to play the same card - finding "enemies of Russia" on the territory of Georgia. But in the current situation the role of such enemies, who allegedly can threaten Russia from the Georgian territory, is assigned to the Ukrainian military.

Pro-Armenian news agency https://iarex.ru/  has recently published a piece "What the US is preparing in Georgia?" where it starts scaring "Ukrainian threat from the territory of Georgia":

"The West, through its aggressive interference in Georgia's internal politics, will make the country's leadership run out of patience. Arno Khidirbegishvili, editor-in-chief of Gruzinform agency and one of the authors of REX (https://iarex.ru/), reflects on this and some events of recent days in his column in Sputnik-Georgia.

First of all, he draws attention to the fact of the poisoning of Vladyka Shio (Mujiri), the patriarch of the Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church, which has already been confirmed by the Patriarchate. In his opinion, the U.S. does not want the Patriarch of Georgia to be a clergyman who received spiritual education in Russia. In Georgia, the U.S. is now preparing a "Maidan", and the assassination of the patriarch, who enjoys tremendous influence among the flock, second only to Ilia II, should have served as a trigger. The goal is street protests, rallies, coup d'état and release of Mikheil Saakashvili.

That's the first thing. 

Second: another Saakashvili scandal, this time fanned by Kiev. The opposition and the collective West said that a political prisoner, ex-President Saakashvili, was being killed in Georgia, but Strasbourg ruled that Saakashvili was being held "in czarist conditions". Therefore, Saakashvili, who will never be released by the Georgian authorities, is an object of blackmail: Georgia will not be given EU candidate status because of a "dying prisoner", and as a result - everyone to the streets, Georgians are being robbed of their European courage to overthrow the pro-Russian "Georgian Dream" government. That is plan "A".

But there is also plan "B": if Georgia does not release Saakashvili, and it will not release him, unless President Salome Zurabishvili pardons him, Kiev in the best American traditions will send a landing force of Ukrainian special forces, mercenaries and Mamulashvili's Georgian Legion to release a Ukrainian citizen.

I am afraid that bloodshed in Georgia will not be avoided," Khidirbegishvili writes. - I am very glad that today the authorities repeat such terms - "second front", "Ukrainian fascists-police-banderites" - a hundred times a day, but recently the streets of Tbilisi were covered with Ukrainian flags, and when I said that Ukraine is an enemy state of Georgia, on Rustaveli they were singing hymns in honor of "heroes", cursing Russia and sending hundreds of thousands of tons of humanitarian aid to Kiev, which would not hurt the citizens of Tbilisi".

Arno Khidirbegishvili (for some reason he hides his real surname), acting as a mouthpiece of the "fifth column", says that "bloodshed in Georgia cannot be avoided" and scares with "landing of Ukrainian special forces". In much the same way 21 years ago "Chechen terrorists" were frightened in Georgia. The purpose of such information campaign is obvious - to really provoke destabilization in Georgia, then "discover" "Ukrainian landing force" in Georgia and organize a new Russian invasion, unleashing a "big war" in the South Caucasus.

Grigol Giorgadze