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San Francisco Chronicle, USA
Russian troops blow up key rail bridge, set fields on fire
Forces dig in, despite new cease-fire pact with Georgia
Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Even as Russia signed a cease-fire agreement with Georgia Saturday,
its troops destroyed a key railroad bridge that links the Caucasus
region to the Black Sea coast, effectively 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 forced Azerbaijan to suspend the
transport of crude oil to the Black Sea ports and stranded 72
Armenia-bound freight cars in Georgia, Interfax reported.
The bridge attack came as Russian soldiers dug into strategic posts
along the country's main roadway, setting up gun positions,
camouflaging their hardware with tree branches and hiking on foot 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 the small town of Igoeti,
about 25 miles from the capital, for most of the day.
A Russian tank convoy that streamed from Gori to Igoeti Saturday
afternoon left fields burning in its wake, apparently lit on fire by
Russian troops. By late afternoon, the Russian tanks had fallen back
but were holding positions at the edge of the nearby Lekhura River.
Russia's aggressive troop movements in Georgia proper calls 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, said that the Russian
troops might stay put in Georgia for some time.
Any departure would come gradually and would depend upon "extra
security measures" for Russia's soldiers in the breakaway republic of
South Ossetia, Lavrov said. Asked how long the withdrawal would take,
Lavrov replied, "As much as is needed," Interfax reported.
"This does not depend on us alone, because we are constantly coming up
against some problems on the Georgian side," he said. "Everything
depends on how effectively and quickly these problems are solved."
Last week's fighting has ramped up tensions between Russia and the
West and soured relations between Moscow and Washington, D.C., to a
degree not seen since the Cold War.
The mutual frustration probably will rise as Russia and the United
States square off diplomatically over the fate of South Ossetia and
Georgia's other breakaway republic, Abkhazia. Washington has called
for Georgia's borders and territorial integrity to be respected.
Moscow has vowed to back the republics' drive for independence, which
critics regard as a veiled annexation of the former Soviet lands.
President Bush said Saturday that Russia could not claim the
republics. "There is no room for debate on this matter," he said.
For the time being, Russia's troop movements in Georgia are being
scrutinized for hints of Moscow's intentions. "If they violate their
own agreement, that has even more serious consequences," said Richard
Holbrooke, a prominent U.S. diplomat now in Georgia. "Each hour, each
day, is a test."
In the cool shade of an acacia tree, men from the roadside farming
village of Natareti clumped around a Russian tank. They had approached
the Russian troops not only to inquire how long they would stay but
because they were hungry, they said.
"We are very scared. We don't know what to do," said Suliko Usradze, a
60-year-old farmer. "We can stand the fear but not the hunger."
The Russian occupation had interrupted their harvest. They had no fuel
for the tractors, and the soldiers had taken over their
farmlands. They were out of bread and flour. They had nothing left to
eat but potatoes.
Russian troops blow up key rail bridge, set fields on fire
Forces dig in, despite new cease-fire pact with Georgia
Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Even as Russia signed a cease-fire agreement with Georgia Saturday,
its troops destroyed a key railroad bridge that links the Caucasus
region to the Black Sea coast, effectively 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 forced Azerbaijan to suspend the
transport of crude oil to the Black Sea ports and stranded 72
Armenia-bound freight cars in Georgia, Interfax reported.
The bridge attack came as Russian soldiers dug into strategic posts
along the country's main roadway, setting up gun positions,
camouflaging their hardware with tree branches and hiking on foot 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 the small town of Igoeti,
about 25 miles from the capital, for most of the day.
A Russian tank convoy that streamed from Gori to Igoeti Saturday
afternoon left fields burning in its wake, apparently lit on fire by
Russian troops. By late afternoon, the Russian tanks had fallen back
but were holding positions at the edge of the nearby Lekhura River.
Russia's aggressive troop movements in Georgia proper calls 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, said that the Russian
troops might stay put in Georgia for some time.
Any departure would come gradually and would depend upon "extra
security measures" for Russia's soldiers in the breakaway republic of
South Ossetia, Lavrov said. Asked how long the withdrawal would take,
Lavrov replied, "As much as is needed," Interfax reported.
"This does not depend on us alone, because we are constantly coming up
against some problems on the Georgian side," he said. "Everything
depends on how effectively and quickly these problems are solved."
Last week's fighting has ramped up tensions between Russia and the
West and soured relations between Moscow and Washington, D.C., to a
degree not seen since the Cold War.
The mutual frustration probably will rise as Russia and the United
States square off diplomatically over the fate of South Ossetia and
Georgia's other breakaway republic, Abkhazia. Washington has called
for Georgia's borders and territorial integrity to be respected.
Moscow has vowed to back the republics' drive for independence, which
critics regard as a veiled annexation of the former Soviet lands.
President Bush said Saturday that Russia could not claim the
republics. "There is no room for debate on this matter," he said.
For the time being, Russia's troop movements in Georgia are being
scrutinized for hints of Moscow's intentions. "If they violate their
own agreement, that has even more serious consequences," said Richard
Holbrooke, a prominent U.S. diplomat now in Georgia. "Each hour, each
day, is a test."
In the cool shade of an acacia tree, men from the roadside farming
village of Natareti clumped around a Russian tank. They had approached
the Russian troops not only to inquire how long they would stay but
because they were hungry, they said.
"We are very scared. We don't know what to do," said Suliko Usradze, a
60-year-old farmer. "We can stand the fear but not the hunger."
The Russian occupation had interrupted their harvest. They had no fuel
for the tractors, and the soldiers had taken over their
farmlands. They were out of bread and flour. They had nothing left to
eat but potatoes.