Russian soldiers open second front in Georgia
Russia seizes control of an army base in the breakaway republic of Abkhazia as Georgia struggles to regain ground in South Ossetia,
GORI, Georgia -- Russian soldiers plunged into Georgia today to open a second front in the two countries' 4-day-old war, storming out of the Russia-backed breakaway republic of Abkhazia to seize control of a western army base.
The Russian occupation of the base near the town of Senaki, close to the Black Sea, came as Georgia's military struggled to regain ground lost to Russia in South Ossetia, another Moscow-backed region seeking independence from Georgia. Reservists in flip-flops and drawn, dirty soldiers mingled on the outskirts of South Osstia today, taking cover under trees and overpasses while Russian warplanes hammered the roads.
The emergence of a second front is another sign that Russia intends to continue its punishing campaign against Georgia, bringing the force of its military might to bear on the smaller, poorer neighboring country.
The long-simmering conflict erupted in earnest last week when Georgia launched a surprise operation to seize control of South Ossetia, killing Russian peacekeepers and Russian citizens of the breakaway republic. An enraged Russia stormed into the breakaway republics with the full wrath of its military power, and opened a bombing campaign in Georgia proper.
As casualties mount, Georgia has called for a cease-fire. Despite pressure from the international community, Russia has so far rebuked talks of a truce, insisting that its campaign in Georgia is a peacekeeping mission that must press forward.
Georgia is now under sea blockade by Russia, which moved its Black Sea fleet along the coast to prevent supplies and goods from entering the country.
Despite the country's weakened position, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili sounded a note of defiance today. In an address to the country, he indicated that Georgia would continue to fight Russia for control of South Ossetia.
"We will protect our land down to our last drop of blood," he said. "We will protect our freedom."
The conflict has also poured fresh animosity into already-strained relations between Moscow and Washington. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin sharply criticized the United States today for supporting Georgia.
"The very scale of this cynicism is astonishing," Putin said on state television. "The attempt to turn white into black, black into white and to adeptly portray victims of aggression as aggressors and place the responsibility for the consequences of the aggression on the victims."
The United States has displayed a "Cold War mentality" in its friendship with leaders in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, Putin charged.
"The Georgian rulers which used tanks to run over children and the elderly, which threw civilians into cellars and burnt them -- they are players that have to be protected," Putin said.
megan.stack@latimes.com
