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Russians May Be Digging In

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The Associated Press

Published: August 21, 2008

SACHKHERE, Georgia - Russian forces dug trenches and built sentry posts deep inside Georgia on Wednesday, showing few signs they would pull back later this week as promised.

Georgian soldiers suggested the Russians were trying to provoke them and justify a resumption of the conflict, which over five days pounded the infrastructure of the small former Soviet republic and the morale of its troops.

In the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, President Mikhail Saakashvili told The Associated Press that Russia was thinning out its presence in some of the towns it occupies but was seizing other strategic spots.

"What we're seeing now is a clear regrouping and also, again, some kind of deception campaign, saying, 'Look, we're moving out,'" Saakashvili said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has pledged his forces would retreat by Friday to South Ossetia, the breakaway Georgian province at the heart of the war, and a surrounding security cordon.

But there have been few signs of movement other than the departure of a small contingent of Russian soldiers from Gori, a strategically located city in central Georgia.

On Wednesday, much of Georgia remained tense as Russian troops built a guard post out of timber on a hill outside Igoeti, about 30 miles from Tbilisi, and a large Russian convoy rolled near the western city of Senaki.
Russian soldiers also set up what appeared to be semi-permanent camps in at least three places in western Georgia near the Black Sea port of Poti, with dozens of men digging in by armored personnel carriers and trucks.

CASUALTIES

GEORGIA

Dead: 160

Missing: 300

RUSSIA

Dead: 64

Missing: 323

Civilians: 1,492 South Ossetians killed, officials there say. Russia says 133 civilian deaths confirmed.

The Associated Press

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