Russian troops enter Georgian port- Georgian PM

[rayofreason]

Source: Reuters

TBILISI, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Russian troops have entered Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti, an oil and cargo shipping centre, Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said on Monday.

"According to our information, Russian troops have entered Poti, as well as being in Senaki and Zugdidi," he said in a televised address, referring to two other towns in western Georgia.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLB222618

---

The Russian radio station "Echo of Moscow" is reporting the same thing, and includes a photo of Russian troops in the port.

http://echo.msk.ru/news/533382-echo.html

12.08.2008 01:09 : Российские войска вторглись в грузинский порт Поти - Russian troops have invaded the Georgian port of Poti.


How long before they move on Tbilisi?

[maddezmom]

1. Russia denies troops entered Georgian port-Ifax 11 Aug 2008 20:59:43 GMT

MOSCOW, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry denied a statement by Georgia's prime minister on Monday that Russian troops had entered Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti, Interfax news agency reported.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LB232446.htm

God only knows what is going on. :shrug:

[rayofreason]

3. And those troops in the picture...

... are just on a seaside stroll.

But Echo of Moscow is reporting the denial now - was not there before.

[maddezmom]

4. here is a good run down on today's events...kind of like watchng a tennis match

Russia Advances in Georgia, but How Far?
By Mike Nizza

While the fighting in South Ossetia has been well-covered, both sides seemed to disagree on Monday on key aspects of the conflict. In comments from government officials and reports from news organizations, a complicated picture of the continuing fight emerged. Georgia is arguing that the entire country is threatened, while Russia insists that its ground assault remains limited to the first conflict zone. According to President Bush, Russia was responsible for a “dramatic and brutal escalation.”

Ambitions
Colonel General Anatoly Nogovitsyn of Russia declared Monday that “we are not crossing the (de facto) border,” a rule that he described as “our key principle.” But President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia told reporters that “their purpose is to depose the democratically elected government of Georgia.”

Gori: New Front?
A Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman, Shota Utiashvili, told Bloomberg News that Russian forces “invaded” Gori, a city to the south of South Ossetia’s border. Later, another senior Georgian official told Reuters, “They have captured the city of Gori.” Another told Agence France-Presse, “The majority of Georgia’s territory is occupied.”

Russia flatly denied the charge, saying, “There are no Russian troops in Gori” and insisted that its forces were only hitting military targets. Gori is considered a major staging area for the Georgian military.

more:http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/russia-advances-in-georgia-but-how-far/?hp

[movonne]

8. Is this the part of the "new europe" that rummie was talking about?..

[maddezmom]

10. Now the Russians are saying there were there, but for a recon mission

Russian forces entered Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti on Monday, Georgian and Russian officials said, but Moscow described it as a reconnaissance mission.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gx05DMX1xoOsulBARE-iFgqMEv-g

[rayofreason]

12. "a reconnaissance mission"

Tbilisi will get some "recon" soon.

[ohio2007]

17. looking for the Black Sea fleet.....not in port yet .... back into the woods

[Schema Thing]

2. good god, this thing is looking like a rout

Hard to believe that Georgia started down this road.

[Turbineguy]

5. Wait until they say who suggested it...

[dipsydoodle]

6. According to our information

Oh ha fucking ha. They've got mobile phones so they know exactly what's happening and where. All we got today was a complete load of old bollocks about the Russians being in Gori - they were not.

I doubt that the Russians have any intention of moving on Tbilisi.

[Dead_Parrot]

7. It's like Baghdad Bob, only backwards.

I've just been watching a BBC segment on it: a live interview with a correspondent in Gori, standing in the middle of the town saying "There's no Russians here. There's rumors they might be up the road." followed 30 seconds later with a live interview with Saakashvili: "They are still fighting in Gori"

It's quite breathtaking.

Edit: I should add Saakashvili's words did have a disclaimer ("I have been told" or "According to my information", I forget which). He is a lawyer, after all.

[dipsydoodle]

9. Yes indeed

Baghdad Bob has been on my mind today too. :rofl:

[rayofreason]

11. Please read post #10

You might want to reevaluate your position on this matter now that the Russians are admitting that they were in Poti.

[cdavid]

13. Russia

I dont see what the big deal is. I just read this propaganda from the Bush Crime Family: "The Russian government must reverse the course it appears to be on and accept this peace agreement as a first step toward solving this conflict," Bush said, adding that he is deeply concerned that Russia, which Georgian officials say has effectively split their country in two, might bomb the civilian airport in the capital of Tbilisi.

WHY? Russia has every right to do whatever they want. Why do we have to protect democracy? This "spread the freedom" agenda by facist bush and his cronies is crazy. If Russia wants Georgia, take it. We dont need to be involved. Lets take care of ourselves..especially the inner city schools and universal health care. And on a side note, I hope President Obama raises unemployment and welfare benefits.

[rayofreason]

14. Hmm...Russian IP address perhaps?

It is amusing to see a pro-fascist troll try to gain some currency through a gratuitous use of phrases like "Bush Crime Family" and "inner city schools and universal health care", hoping for a unthinking and reflexive agreement for an outrageous statement.

Go back to whatever slime you crawled out from to make your only post on a progressive website in favor of an aggression against a small democracy by an authoritarian neighbor. Unreconstructed Stalinists don't find the DU a comfortable hangout.

[amandabeech]

15. Thanks for this post and your others on the Georgian situation. n/t

[rayofreason]

18. You are welcome. n/t

[Igel]

23. Eh, could be my mother.

Has no use for anything outside the US (unless she admires it). What matters to her pretty much stops with her interests; starving children in Africa? First worry about the cracks in the sidewalk, she could trip.

At the time she was willing to say the USSR could do no wrong--she really didn't care one way or the other, as long as Kennedy/Johnson/Nixon/Reagan/Bush/Clinton ... didn't interfere with what she considered the only one true domestic agenda. (Not that they really obliged her--esp. Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton).

I understand isolationists, even extreme isolationists.

It's why I learned Russian in the '70s, and I'm working on a few other "strategic" languages now.

[Dead_Parrot]

16. So what's your take on Gori, Ray?

On the one hand "Saakashvili earlier told a national security meeting Russia had also taken central Gori", while on the other we're got reporters from France24, Reuters and the BBC all standing around actually in Gori saying "What fucking Russians?".

Sorry, I'm still not believing a damn thing that comes out of Georgian officialdom unless it has independent confirmation. Same goes for the Russians - although their track record is a good deal better, to be honest.

[rayofreason]

20. Gori...

I am not sure that the Russians have rolled into town, but they have bombed and shelled (to drive the Georgian out), and they have cut the road, which means that they have cut Georgia in half. They don't need to take Gori now - it is theirs. They have entered Poti - a port on the Black Sea.

Tomorrow I expect them to head toward Tbilisi with the goal being to remove the government and appoint puppets held in place by Russian troops. The army will fight, and it is being redeployed to protect Tbilisi, but they have no chance against these odds. Georgia will probably be dismembered - Abkhazia, S. Ossetia, Adjara (probably under the rule of gangster Aslan Abashidze) all being recognized by Russia as "Republics".

Unless there is concerted action by the west, Georgia is no more, and Ukraine is next on the list. Leaders from Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic republics plan to visit Tbilisi on Tuesday. That may not stop the Russians. In fact, killing them all would send just the message the Kremlin wants to put out.

[Dead_Parrot]

21. You're "not sure"?

At least four independent, western reporters standing in the town saying "There aren't any Russians" not convincing enough?
What, exactly, would it take to convince you?

As for the bulk of the population leaving, that's probably down to Saakashvili running around in circles screaming "The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!"

We'll see what happens tomorrow, I guess.

[rayofreason]

22. No, I'm not sure...

..that, say a mechanized battalion rolled through town when there were no reporters there to see them.

Are the Russians occupying Gori right now? No evidence of that. But they control it, and the road to Tbilisi.

[Dead_Parrot]

24. Ahh, Zen troop movements.

So you're working on the assumption that Russians are everywhere people aren't looking?

Better check under your bed, dude.

[rayofreason]

25. The Russians admit...

1. They were outside Gori
2. They bombed and shelled it

Add that to the Georgian claim that Russian troops were in the town and we are dealing with more than the sound of one hand clapping. They don't need to stay there to control it. They just need to cut the roads. And given the experience of Grozny in 1996, they are probably wary of city fighting.

The same argument would be going on about Poti if that inconvenient Rueters photo of Russian troops in Poti had not slipped out. First the Russians denied they were in the town. They now say it was a "recon mission." Hmmm....who am I going to believe about Gori? Better yet, who are you going to believe?

[Dead_Parrot]

26. Although, none of the remaining residents of Gori noticed...

Crafty buggers, those Ruskies.

Mind you, if they can hide a mechanised battalion behind a a tree everytime a reporter goes past, they are clearly masters of invisibility.

I'd better go check my broom cupboard.

[Wednesdays]

27. Maybe the Russians are shy?

:shrug:

[Dead_Parrot]

28. Could be...

...maybe that's the real reason for the war - they want to steal Saakashvili's super-secret acne cream, and don't want anyone to see them 'til they've used it.

[High Plains]

30. It's Tuesday now. Did the Russians take Tbilisi?

No.

Did they dismember Georgia?

No.

Did they attack and kill the leaders of Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic Republics?

Not that I've heard.

Somebody's hyperventilating.

[ohio2007]

19. Georgia 'plans war in Abkhazia' ( Apr.29 article ) Russia has said that Georgia is preparing to

more on the story of what is happening this week it's worth time taking a look back at a BBC article;

Georgia 'plans war in Abkhazia'

Russia has said that Georgia is preparing to invade the breakaway region of Abkhazia.

A statement from the Russian foreign ministry said that "a bridgehead is being prepared for the start of military operations against Abkhazia".

Russia accuses Georgia of amassing 1,500 soldiers and police near the rebel areas of the upper Kodori Gorge.

But Georgian officials denied intending to attack Abkhazia, which broke away from Georgia in the 1990s.
Interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told the news agency AFP that "there has been no increase in forces from the Georgian side, nothing at all. The Russian statement is simply not true."

He also objected to Moscow's announcement of an increase in peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in response to what Russia sees as Georgia's aggressive moves.
Peacekeeping force

Mr Utiashvili said: "This is not acceptable to us... they cannot increase the number any further."

"It is the Russians who are taking provocative actions, not Georgia. Deploying additional troops is certainly a very provocative move," he added.

snip

Last week Russian authorities insisted Abkhaz rebels had shot down an unmanned Georgian spy plane - after Georgia accused a Russian plane of shooting down the drone.

And on Tuesday Georgia said it was blocking Russia's entry to the World Trade Organisation.

Many in Abkhazia believe that Kosovo's announcement of independence from Serbia in February provides a precedent for it to be recognised as an individual state.

Although it has its own flag and postage stamps, it is not internationally recognised.

Our correspondent in the area says that with this latest statement the Russian government has pushed the already bellicose rhetoric between the two countries to a new level.






http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7373263.stm


As was basically stated on another thread, a light switch doesn't get flipped and troops just appear on a recon mission to see whats in the Poti


on edit;
BBC video crew being attacked by Russian jets.

BBC News Crew Attacked In Georgia
- Post Media Reply
A news crew working for the BBC was attacked by a Russian fighter jet while reporting in Georgia.



http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b0e_1218493030

[maddezmom]

29. Russian Forces Order Kulevi Oil Terminal Evacuation - Georgia

TBILISI, Georgia (AFP)--The strategic Kulevi oil terminal near Georgia's Black Sea port city of Poti is under threat from Russian attacks, Georgian National Security Council Secretary Alexander Lomaia told AFP Tuesday.

"The Russian military is posing a direct threat to the Kulevi oil terminal, the property of the Azerbaijani oil company SOCAR. They have demanded terminal staff evacuate as Russians are preparing to bomb the nearby forest, claiming that Georgian troops are hidden there," he said.

more:
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080812%5cACQDJON200808121204DOWJONESDJONLINE000438.htm&&mypage=newsheadlines&title=Russian%20Forces%20Order%20Kulevi%20Oil%20Terminal%20Evacuation%20-%20Georgia