IGOETI, GEORGIA — Even as Russia signed a cease-fire agreement with Georgia on Saturday, its troops destroyed a key railroad bridge that links the Caucasus region to the Black Sea coast, cutting off east-west transportation routes through the country, the Georgian Foreign Ministry announced.
Russia denied blowing up the bridge, calling the charge "another unverified allegation" in the wake of large-scale fighting over a pro-Moscow separatist republic. A Los Angeles Times photographer traveling in the area Saturday saw explosives attached to the underbelly of a nearby railroad bridge, but it was still intact.
The blast in the Kaspi region caused immediate economic chaos, forcing Azerbaijan to suspend crude oil shipments to the Black Sea ports, and stranding 72 Armenia-bound freight cars in Georgia, Interfax news agency reported.
The bridge attack came as Russian soldiers dug in at strategic posts along the country's main roadway, setting up gun positions, camouflaging their hardware with tree branches and hiking into the sunburned hills. Russian soldiers interviewed between the garrison town of Gori and the capital, Tbilisi, said they had been deployed to protect the road.
Tanks flying Russian flags were parked in this small town, about 25 miles from the capital, during most of the day. A Russian tank convoy that streamed from Gori to Igoeti on Saturday afternoon left fields burning in its wake, apparently set on fire by Russian troops.
By late afternoon, the Russian tanks had fallen back, but were still holding positions at the edge of the nearby Lekhura River.
Russia has appeared to be taunting Georgia, sending tank columns roaring toward the capital only to turn them back again. But despite the constant commotion of redeployment, the trend has been a creeping entrenchment that has engulfed strategically crucial Gori and moved steadily in on the capital, creating a swath of nearly abandoned towns and villages.
Russia's aggressive troop movements call into question its commitment to a cease-fire, Georgian and international officials said Saturday.
"I don't see why they signed it if they don't want to implement it," said Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, who was trying to make his way from Tbilisi to Gori to evaluate the state of the cease-fire.
But Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, seemed unfazed, telling reporters that the Russian troops may stay in Georgia for some time to come.
