#10
BBC Monitoring
Russia's GRU said to vent frustration over Iraq war on Internet
Source: Ren TV, Moscow, in Russian 1730 gmt 2 Apr 03

[Presenter Olga Romanova] Coalition forces are fighting in Iraq with Russian strategists. Gazeta.ru, an on-line newspaper, asserts that Saddam Husayn's army has been trained by retired Col-Gen Vladislav Achalov and Col-Gen Igor Maltsev. Achalov and Maltsev visited Iraq no less than 20 times in recent years and it is not serious to say that the Kremlin was not aware of this. The frequent visits of generals to Baghdad were most probably under the control of secret services. The generals have refused to talk about it, but admitted that 10 days before the war they received top Iraqi awards from Saddam Husayn.

Experts think that such assistance can substantially complicate relations between Moscow and Washington. There is some other evidence of Russian military assistance to Iraq. Sensational news saying that the Main Intelligence Administration [GRU] of the Russian Defence Ministry is carrying out its own war against the coalition forces was found by our correspondent Aleksey Kudashev on the Internet.

[Correspondent] The first report signed as Ramzaj [spelling as on the web site] appeared on the Internet a day before the war. It described the plan of attacking Iraq in detail. The article was called GRU exposes the US intervention plans. After that, Ramzaj's articles started appearing on the Internet practically on a daily basis. One could say from first sight that his articles strongly differed from the art of Internet forum users and were closer to front-line reports.

[Ramzaj's report, dated 0723 gmt 24 March] A combat helicopter is being reported lost. Commanders have said several times that their detachments cannot start the attack because the soldiers are demoralized by the opponent's serious resistance.

[Correspondent] Reports about the helicopter being shot down were circulated by news agencies only by mid-day. It was the same Apache which, according to the Iraqi side, had been shot down by an ordinary peasant.

At the same time, efficient information about the Iraqi war is only part of the reports by Ramzaj. His reports also include information which can be acquired only by intelligence agencies, providing one does not take into consideration oracles, prophets and visionaries.

[Ramzaj's report, dated 0940 gmt 25 March] According to intelligence reports, the Pentagon has decided to substantially strengthen its military grouping. In the next two weeks, up to 50,000 troops and no less than 50 tanks are to be transferred here [to Iraq] from detachments deployed in Germany and Albania.

[Correspondent] The first confirmation of this report appeared only the next day. Gazeta.ru journalists say that they were the first to notice that mysterious reports are confirmed some time later by official sources. They say that Ramzaj may be a group of officers from the military intelligence that disagree with the Russian official stance on the war in Iraq.

[Aleksandr Kornilov, captioned as Gazeta.ru correspondent] That way they are trying to influence the information coverage of the war. They also say that this shows their disagreement with the stance of the [Russian] military and political leadership on the war in Iraq.

[Correspondent] A theory which says that GRU officers are waging their own information war on the Internet looks more than credible. The forum where Ramzaj posts his reports is often visited by military journalists. Sooner or later, they had to pay attention to alternative reports on casualties.

Today Ramzaj reported about a US-British task force being ambushed in northern Iraq. The remaining troops are said to have retreated to the territory controlled by Kurds. Allegedly 30 people were killed or taken prisoners by the Iraqis.

[Ramzaj's report, dated 0925 gmt 2 April] Today and tomorrow will be decisive in the further development of the attack on Baghdad. If the coalition forces are unable to break down the Iraqi resistance and break through the front, then most probably the Americans will have to stop the attack by next weekend and switch to trench warfare.

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