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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | ||||
| Georgia claims Russians have cut country in half | ||||
| 2008-08-11 | ||||
The reported capture of the key Georgian city of Gori and the towns of Senaki, Zugdidi and Kurga came despite a top Russian general's claim earlier Monday that Russia had no plans to enter Georgian territory. By taking Gori, which sits on Georgia's only east-west highway, Russia can cut off eastern Georgia from the country's western Black Sea coast.
The news agency Interfax, however, cited a Russian Defense Ministry official as denying Gori was captured. Security Council head Alexander Lomaia said Monday it was not immediately clear if Russian forces would advance on Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. At Georgia's request, U.N. Security Council in New York called an emergency session for later Monday—the fifth meeting on the fighting in as many days. The two-front battlefield was a major escalation in the conflict that blew up late Thursday after a Georgian offensive to regain control of the separatist province of South Ossetia. Even as Saakashvili signed a cease-fire pledge Monday with EU mediators, Russia flexed its military muscle and appeared determined to subdue the small U.S. ally that has been pressing for NATO membership.
In Zugdidi, an AP reporter saw five or six Russian soldiers posted outside an Interior Ministry building. Several tanks and other armored vehicles were moving through the town but the streets were nearly deserted, with shops, restaurants and banks all shut down. In the city of Gori, an AP reporter heard artillery fire and Georgian soldiers warned locals to get out because Russian tanks were approaching. Hundreds of terrified residents fled toward Tbilisi using any means of transport they could find. Many stood along the road trying to flag down passing cars. An APTV film crew saw Georgian tanks and military vehicles speeding along the road from Gori to Tbilisi. Firing began and people ran for cover. A couple of cars could be seen in flames along the side of the road. Georgia borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia and was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Both provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without international recognition since fighting to split from Georgia in the early 1990s—and both have close ties with Moscow. Georgia began an offensive to regain control over South Ossetia late Thursday with heavy shelling and air strikes that ravaged South Ossetia's provincial capital of Tskhinvali. The Russia response was swift and overpowering—thousands of troops that shelled the Georgians until they fled Tskhinvali on Sunday, and four days of bombing raids across Georgia. Yet Georgia's pledge of a cease-fire rang hollow Monday. An AP reporter saw a small group of Georgian fighters open fire on a column of Russian and Ossetian military vehicles outside Tskhinvali, triggering a 30-minute battle. The Russians later said all the Georgians were killed. Another AP reporter was in the village of Tkviavi, 7 1/2 miles south of Tskhinvali inside Georgia, when a bomb from a Russian Sukhoi warplane struck a house. The walls of neighboring buildings fell as screaming residents ran for cover. Eighteen people were wounded. Georgian artillery fire was heard coming from fields about 200 yards away from the village, perhaps the bomber's target. Hundreds of Georgian troops headed north Monday along the road toward Tskhinvali, pocked with tank regiments creeping up the highway into South Ossetia. Hundreds of other soldiers traveled via trucks in the opposite direction, towing light artillery weapons. | ||||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 Just saw a state dept type on Fox late news talking about this. He was p-ssed off. They now seem to understand that the russians had planned this for some time. Russian troops were in both provinces under the guise of humanitarian work... fixing a railroad ... so it could be used for troops and ammo etc. Hopefully we will hear more about this. |
| Posted by: Legolas 2008-08-11 23:46 |
| #4 some ideas form comments at blackfive I'm with Georgia. This thing will probably be halted in place soon with a cease-fire. Then we need to move. 1. Sign an alliance Georgia - whether the worthless French and Germans like it or not. 2. Move all our bases in Europe to the East - Georgia, Poland and the Baltic states. 3. Get the UN to replace the Russian "peacekeepers" with real ones. 4. Kick the shit out of them in they try it again. |
| Posted by: Legolas 2008-08-11 18:36 |
| #3 Here's an interesting comment from Powerline: Did you know that Russia forbids the transport of US military hardware across its territory, even by plane? Of course, Iran does too. Look at a map and think of where the large US logistical bases are located (Germany). That leaves only a narrow corridor -- across Georgia and Azerbaijan -- that we can use to supply our troops in Afghanistan. The Chinese don't allow resupply. The Russians and the Iranians don't. Looks like if we lose Georgia to Imperial Russia, the only route into Afghanistan is via Pakistan. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2008-08-11 17:43 |
| #2 "That's the western edge right by the Black Sea. Looks like a classic pincers move to cut the country in half. That will isolate the bulk of he Georgian military to the eastern half." now the USSR military says theyve withdrawn from Senaki. Maybe they are aware of the guerilla threat, and so are only going to launch large scale raids? Or maybe theyre lying. Interesting a war in which both sides claim fake retreats intead of fake advances. At least shows SOME consideration to world opinion. |
| Posted by: superstitiousGalitizianer 2008-08-11 17:10 |
| #1 Bush has called a press conference for 5:15 EST -- to read a statement -- don't know whether than will be questions of not. He must have stepped off the plane, already knowing exactly what he was doing and would say. |
| Posted by: Sherry 2008-08-11 17:01 |
