* 150 Russian tanks in the suburbs of the South Ossetian capital
* Georgia recalls 1,000 Georgian troops currently in Iraq.
* RussiaToday puts death toll at 1,400.
* Georgia claims 5 Russian aircraft shot down.
* 1000s of Russian / Cossack volunteer forces are heading for Ossetia.
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AP is reporting that Russian television is claiming Russian troops are entering South Ossetia.
A Russian official denied bombing Georgia, but Russian state television said Russian troops were moving into South Ossetia and showed a convoy of tanks that it said had already crossed the border. The convoy was expected to reach the provincial capital, Tskhinvali, by evening, Channel One television said.
UPDATE: BBC is reporting 150 pieces of armor coming through the tunnel (one does wonder why the Georgians did not blow it up)
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For many Americans you can now catch live coverage of the Georgia-South Ossetia crisis on the Kremlin’s Engilsh language service Russia Today. The MHZ Networks offers Russia Today as a free channel to residents in the Washington, DC area, and Russia Today is free to air on many satellites over the US. If you don’t have one of those services, you can also catch Russia Today’s Youtube Channel
Now, being a Russian channel, you’ll hear some stuff like:
* “We must stop the slaughter of Russians”
* “Russia will not tolerate deaths of compatriots”
and you won’t hear about Russian warplanes being involved or any resupply of South Ossetians from Russian territory.
But still, given that the US media is focused on the Olympics or the bus crash in Texas today (12 dead) at least you’ll get to hear something about what is going on (and lots and lots of live video).
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The Georgian Messenger is the English language daily that is ‘live blogging’ events from South Ossetia. There latest blog post is pretty interesting.
]]>Georgia’s Rustavi 2 television station, citiing Russian news reports, just announced that Georgian troops have taken Tskhinvali.
Well all pretense of negotiated settlements and cease fires has seem to go out the windows.
Georgian troops and South Ossetian forces have engaged in some pretty heavy shelling today that’s left at least 10 Georgian troops dead. The BBC is also reporting that fighters from around the region are gearing up for battle and heading to the scene:
Moscow-based Interfax news agency quoted the head of Russia’s province of North Ossetia, Taimuraz Mamsurov, as saying: “Hundreds of volunteers from North Ossetia are on their way to South Ossetia. We cannot stop them or prevent them from going.”
It also quoted Sergei Bagapsh, the head of Georgia’s other breakaway province of Abkhazia, as saying: “About 1,000 Abkhaz volunteers are leaving for South Ossetia.”
Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, is under attack from many sides, according to published reports.
The London Telegraph is going so far as to call this a full scale invasion by Georgian forces, including photos of troops on the move.
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The BBC is reporting on more preparations for the Russian Georgian war of 2008. Bus loads of children from the border area are being put on buses and sent to Russia to escape the fighting (that may take place). Not surprisingly, both sides are blaming the other for increased tensions.
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For those who haven’t been paying attention, the war of words is escalating to guns, car bombs, and hostage taking in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Condi Rice has just landed in Tibilsi in some last minute diplomatic push to settle down things before troops get involved. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks.
Georgia Messenger is a good English language paper from Georgia. Moscow Times is a good one from Moscow.
UPDATE: For recent visitors, it is worth noting this post came a month before actual ‘hostilities’ commenced on August 7, 2008, but the situation in the region has been tense for years.
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