Russian troops to stay in Georgia, outside South Ossetia
The deployment plan, if implemented, would place Russian soldiers in position to move quickly against Georgian forces.
AKHALGORI, Georgia -- Russia tightened its grip today on Georgian territory it seized during clashes between the forces loyal to the two countries earlier this month.
Moscow's top diplomat said a Russian contingent of 500 troops would remain at eight posts inside undisputed Georgian territory well outside the breakaway region of South Ossetia, a pro-Moscow enclave that has been at odds with the central government in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi.
The plan, if implemented, would indefinitely place Russian soldiers in position to move against Georgian forces and government at a moment's notice.
Russian troops would be deployed along the country's main east-west road, just outside the key central Georgian town of Gori, near the country's railway line as well as the crucial U.S.-backed pipeline pumping Caspian Sea crude oil to tankers off the Turkish coast.
Russian peacekeepers have long been stationed inside South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a second enclave seeking independence from Georgia. Both Georgian and Russian troops held sway over the checkerboard of ethnic enclaves.
But since the current conflict broke out Aug. 7, Russian troops and allied militias have taken over all parts of South Ossetia, including mostly ethnic Georgian areas of the enclave.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that the eight new outposts would be installed Friday, in effect putting a chunk of Georgia under the control of Russian forces.
Today, Russian troops guarded the entrance to the town of Akhalgori, formally a part of South Ossetia but ruled by Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Georgian families could be seen loaded up into rickety Lada automobiles and fleeing the area. The patriarch of one family said they were not threatened or forced to leave, but felt compelled to anyway, as the town was under the control of the South Ossetian militia.
"We're making a peaceful protest to ask the Russians to leave," said Lamara Gulashvili, a high school teacher attending a rally outside the checkpoint. Demonstrators waved red-and-white Georgian flags, but Georgian police refused to allow them to approach the checkpoint, arguing that they were under orders not to allow a confrontation.
Lavrov, who spoke in the Russian city of Sochi, said Russia's withdrawal began several days ago, but complained that Western nations "seem to be reluctant to notice it."
