South Ossetia: Russian armor in, refugees out
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Saturday, August 9, 2008; 2:12 PM
ARDON RIVER VALLEY, Russia -- Columns of Russian armor crawled up the deep passes of the Caucasus Mountains on Saturday toward the border with South Ossetia in a push to support Russian troops fighting in the Georgian separatist region.
For hours, the columns of weapons and support vehicles kicked up squalls of dust in a stark display of Russia's determination to exert its will in what it considers its backyard.
Military and other officials at the scene declined to be interviewed, and prevented foreigners from crossing the border.
Meanwhile, a stream of refugees arrived in buses from the south, where heavy fighting broke out early Friday. They registered with authorities and then headed to the homes of relatives, government shelters in schools, private homes and at least one monastery.
Lara Goyeva, a 28-year-old musician, told of being rocketed and shelled by Georgian troops, and finally escaping to make the journey north. She said she saw many people injured.
A gray-haired man with red-rimmed eyes in a military uniform, asked what had happened to him, only shook his head and buried his face in his arms.
Valentina Beskayeva, who works for a Russian construction company, waited at the border crossing for almost two hours, hoping to spot her mother, sister and 8-year-old son, Alan, on one of the refugee buses.
The three, she said, lived in Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital that has been the center of the fighting.
She said that she had spoken to her son on Friday and that there had ben fighting near the house, but that proudly told her he hadn't cried, saying "I am a man."
The 41-year-old woman said with tears in her eyes that her father had been killed in fighting in Abkhazia, another breakaway region of Georgia, in 1994.
"Why is there war?" she asked. "Why? People fight and die for a few square meters (yards) of land. Why?"
Late in the morning, Russian troops fired two rockets from a base near the border. A short time later, what appeared to be three Russian attack helicopters passed overhead, heading toward South Ossetia.
