SARAPUL (Republic of Udmurtia), January 30 (RIA
Novosti) - Galina Glukhov, the mother of a Russian deserter,
who left his unit in South Ossetia and fled to Georgia,
believes her son has been pressured into talking to the press,
she told RIA Novosti on Friday.
"What he's saying doesn't resemble him," she said. "It
doesn't sound like it's coming from him. Someone must be
pushing him."
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that Jr. Sgt.
Alexander Glukhov had been captured by Georgian special
services in South Ossetia. The Georgian Interior Ministry said,
however, that Glukhov had left his unit over the weekend,
surrendered to Georgian police and requested political asylum.
The Glukhov family is from the city of Sarapul in Udmurtia in
central Russia.
Earlier Galina told RIA Novosti that she would like to go
to Tbilisi and meet with her son in order to "talk with him and
try to understand what happened."
On Tuesday, Georgia's Interior Ministry reported that Glukhov
had surrendered to the Georgian police. A report on the
English-language Georgian Times news website said he had
complained about the "unbearable conditions" in his unit.
However, Glukhov's mother said that her son "had never
complained about his service until he turned up in Tbilisi."
Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze said on Tuesday that
Georgia had already contacted the soldier's parents and invited
them to Tbilisi to visit their son.
Denis Logonov, a government spokesman, said that the
republic of Udmurtia had received a request from Galina Glukhov
to help organize a trip to Tbilisi and that the republic's
administration was prepared to pay her travel expenses. He
warned, however, that some elements of her visit were not
within the republic's control.
In a radio interview with Russia's Ekho Moskvy on Wednesday,
the soldier said he did not believe he was a traitor. He said
his actions could not be politically motivated because he would
have done the same thing if his army division had been deployed
near any other foreign border.
Glukhov earlier requested that Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili grant him political asylum and allow him to live in
Tbilisi. The Georgian Interior Ministry said it was looking
into the possibility of granting Glukhov Georgian citizenship.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that a meeting
between Glukhov and Russian Foreign Ministry representatives
would be organized by Georgia only once the issue had been
discussed with Georgia's Interior Ministry.
Glukhov was drafted in the fall of 2007, and was to be
discharged this fall having served two years in the Army.
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