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Russia and Georgia deny group of tanks heading to Tbilisi

A column of Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers (APCs) seen leaving the Georgian city of Gori yesterday was not heading to the capital, Russian and Georgian officials said.

“A convoy of Russian tanks left Gori, but is not heading to Tbilisi,” Georgian Deputy Interior Minister Eka Zguladze said in televised remarks.

Interfax quoted a top Russian general, Anatoly Nogovitsyn, as saying: “Neither Russian subdivisions nor armored vehicles are moving to Tbilisi. They have not been given such a task.”

However, Georgia’s foreign ministry said in a statement yesterday that Russian tanks blocked the main Georgian highway connecting the rebel region of South Ossetia with the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, Russia’s military yesterday said it had shot down a Georgian reconnaissance drone over the main South Ossetian city of Tskhinvali, which Russia said indicated Georgia was not honoring a ceasefire, Interfax reported.

Interfax and RIA Novosti also quoted an unnamed Russian military spokesman as saying Russian forces in Gori were removing military vehicles and munitions that had been left unattended at Georgian army facilities.

“With the goal of demilitarizing the zone adjacent to the conflict, and likewise with the goal of guaranteeing the safety of the civilian population, Russian peacekeepers are removing these vehicles and munitions,” a military spokesman was quoted as saying by Interfax and RIA Novosti.

A journalist saw a column of about 60 Russian tanks, APCs and other vehicles on the main road that leads from Gori to Tbilisi.

The road has a number of turnings that allow traffic to turn in directions other than Tbilisi.

The armored column was seen about 10km outside Gori, pointed in the direction of the capital.

Russian soldiers leaned from the windows of the trucks shouting “Tbilisi! Tbilisi!” and waving Russian flags.

An EU peace plan for Georgia and Russia struggled to take hold yesterday, as the concept of having both sides retreat to their original positions ran into the stark reality of Russian dominance on the battlefield.

By yesterday morning, Georgia reported Russian tanks moving into its key central city of Gori outside the breakaway province of South Ossetia at the epicenter of fighting. It also lost its last stronghold in another separatist province, Abkhazia.

Georgian troops had completely pulled out of a small section of Abkhazia that they controlled — a development that reduces further significant fighting in Abkhazia’s Kodori Gorge but leaves the entire area in the hands of the Russian-backed separatists.

In central Georgia, about 50 Russian tanks entered Gori yesterday morning, Alexander Lomaia, the head of Georgia’s national security council, said.

The six-point EU plan, which obliges the parties to halt fighting, was to be reviewed by EU foreign ministers in Brussels yesterday.

Also See: US cancels exercise with Russia and Also See: Obama, McCain split on Georgian crisis response
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