Russia/Georgia Situation News & Updates

Is there any independent confirmation other than the Georgian Interior Ministry? Also, Russia did earlier say that they would remain there for two days. It hasn't been two days yet, has it?

I'm not defending them. They agreed to stay out of Georgia and haven't done that, which I of course don't agree with (even if we still don't know what prompted them to re-enter of course.) I would just like to ensure that this isn't a possible example of spin or misunderstanding.

reply to post by Kr0n0s


Yeah, but coming from a Georgian official, I would take it with a pinch of salt. They've proven to be wrong in the past. Lets wait till there's more confirmation on this.

reply to post by -Rugged Shark-


Cheers for that.

Here it is in full.

Russian forces not leaving Gori--Georgian official

Agence France-Presse
First Posted 16:10:00 08/14/2008

TBILISI -- Russian forces have "changed their mind" about leaving the flashpoint Georgian town of Gori and are not withdrawing, a Georgian interior ministry spokesman told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday.

"All night they said they would leave and now they have changed their mind. Georgian forces have stopped [going to Gori] to avoid clashes with the Russians," Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told AFP.

The same official said earlier Thursday that Georgian forces were retaking control of Gori as the Russian military started to withdraw.

Russian officials had said their pullout from the city 85 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Tbilisi would be completed within two days.

(AFP)

Online it says the Georgian Interior Ministry is saying that Russian forces are leaving

Russian troops have begun pulling out from Gori, the Georgian city that has been hit by shelling and looting, according to Georgia's Interior Ministry.

Sky News

Originally posted by -Rugged Shark-
reply to post by Hellmutt

 

Gen. Borisov stated last night that Russia would return the authority to the Georgian police today.
So I took it like that there already was somesort a police presence in Gori.

www.youtube.com...

reply to post by AceWombat04


God knows then.

The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, obviously.

reply to post by raptor108


Thanks for that vid

Last time I heard, Gen. Borisov was Deputy Head of General Staff at the Military Academy on Educational Research. I guess he must have gotten a promotion...

reply to post by AceWombat04


I think that's an earlier story. I hope not, but I assume that would be the case.

If the time is correct in this, the following is from the Associated Press as well, and is from about twenty minutes ago or so:

GORI, Georgia (AP) -- Russian troops began pulling out Thursday from this hub on Georgia's main east-west highway, Georgia's Interior Ministry said, where the soldiers' presence raised fears that Russia would challenge a shaky cease-fire agreement.

hosted.ap.org...

If the Russians "changing their mind" is happening live on Sky or elsewhere though, it may very well be that the net hasn't caught up yet (as per usual.)

link

Georgia says Russian troops pulling out of Gori; US aid shipment arrives

This was upped 25 min ago. from AP

Is sky still showing that message about the Russians having changed their mind? Sofar, other than the links mentioned, I can't find any further info on it.

BREAKING NEWS - SKY TV - AFP: Russian forces have returned to Georgian port of Poti and raised troop numbers in Gori despite ceasefire agreement.

AP NewsAlert
10 minutes ago

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgian Foreign Ministry says more Russian troops enter Gori, Russians move into Poti

link

Russians apparantly saying they are there today but officially handed over to Georgian police tomorrow. They (police) are scattered , they need to ' re group' to become an effective police force to control the city.

Remember , they all scarpered when the Russian tanks arrived, you can't just click your fingers and suddenly you get back a semblence of control just like that .

[edit on 14-8-2008 by Gun Totin Gerbil]

Wow this is getting really confusing and hard to follow, I'm guessing they was reporting the earlier reports until they had some more solid confirmation?

Is it just me.. or are we having a repeat of last night this time....

This is really getting tiring...... IF .. IF russian troops havn't left like they said they would (FOR THE SECOND TIME!!) then i think we are going to see some nasty things..

Originally posted by chips
BREAKING NEWS - SKY TV - AFP: Russian forces have returned to Georgian port of Poti and raised troop numbers in Gori despite ceasefire agreement.

If they were indeed planning to leave Gori they would never have increased troop numbers there. I think they are here to stay or may even push futher. It would make sense to increase troops of they were planning to push deeper into Georgian territory.

Well, it certainly would be an interesting strategy for Russia to enter for ostensibly good reasons, start to leave, instead return with a greater number of troops and advance further each time, and then rinse and repeat - although the wisdom of such a slow strategy when a) they could do so far more rapidly given Georgia's relative impotence (no offense to Georgia) compared to Russia at this point and b) the increasing likelihood that large numbers of U.S. military personnel will soon arrive as part of the aid mission, is questionable at best.

I personally doubt that such a strategy on Russia's part is what's happening, but I do not discount this (or any other) possibility. As has been the case throughout this, we have too little information, too many contradictions, and too many rumors. It's like the president said in the movie, "The Sum of All Fears." "This is too much (explicative...) and not enough facts."


[edit on 8/14/2008 by AceWombat04]

Originally posted by wolfmanjack


Is it just me.. or are we having a repeat of last night this time....

This is really getting tiring...... IF .. IF russian troops havn't left like they said they would (FOR THE SECOND TIME!!) then i think we are going to see some nasty things..

I know what you mean. I see the words Tbilisi! Tbilisi! everywhere!

More news sites are now reporting about the Russians having changed their mind in Gori. All are based on what that Georgian official said.