Russia Says 2 Regions in Georgia Are Independent

Gallery

Russia Withdraws From Gori But Stays in Georgia

Russian troops pulled out of the Georgian city of Gori on Friday night to comply with a cease-fire agreement. But U.S., French and Georgian officials later disputed Russia's assertion that it withdrew its forces.

» LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

The allegation could not be independently confirmed. But local residents reported that Russian forces returned to towns they had previously withdrawn from and described a confrontation between Russian troops and Georgian police in a village about 35 miles northwest of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Georgian police had established control over Mosabruni, an ethnically mixed town far from the original conflict zone, after Russian forces withdrew last week, residents said. But the Russian soldiers returned Monday and asked the Georgian authorities to leave, residents said.

As the discussions progressed, two Russian attack helicopters arrived and began circling above the town. Eventually the police retreated and the Russians established a checkpoint.

"I think the Georgians were lost and we helped them find the way back," Russian Col. Anatoly Tarasov said as his soldiers manned the checkpoint. "There will be a peacekeeper post from now on."

Georgian residents of the rural town, which has not been considered part of South Ossetia since Soviet times, said they would leave if the Russian troops remained.

"I slept quietly when the Georgian police were here, but I know the Russians won't let me live my life," said Nodar Razmadze, 60, who had already begun packing his belongings in case he needed to leave in a hurry for one of the nearby Georgian villages. He said he hid American and Turkish humanitarian rations behind the door of his farmhouse because he was afraid Russian troops would take them.

Russian forces also returned to the town of Akhalgori, directly north of Mosabruni. Since Friday, the town had been held by Ossetian militia fighters who back the Russians. On Tuesday, Russian soldiers manned the checkpoint outside town, while militia fighters patrolled inhabited areas, perched on the back of armored vehicles.

"I am afraid that the war is coming here," said Guja Koraev, 43, an Ossetian resident of Akhalgori. "All I want is to live without guns and armored cars in our streets."

In the capitals of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, however, the Russian announcement was greeted with joy. Russian television broadcast footage of armed men firing their weapons into the air in celebration.

A senior Russian military official, meanwhile, expressed concern about what he said was a buildup of 18 warships from NATO countries in the neighboring Black Sea. "The heightened activity of NATO ships in the Black Sea perplexes us," Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn told reporters in Moscow.

A NATO spokeswoman said five warships are conducting scheduled NATO exercises, and the United States has said its own vessels are delivering humanitarian aid to Georgia. But in a subtle challenge to Russia, one of the ships is scheduled on Wednesday to deliver aid to the port city of Poti, which continues to be patrolled by Russian troops.

Asked whether the U.S. ship would be allowed to dock, Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, replied: "Yes, why not? The port is operational."

But Lavrov questioned the U.S. decision to use military ships to deliver aid.

"Normally battleships do not deliver aid, and if it is battleship diplomacy, or rather battleship humanitarian diplomacy, of course it does not make the situation more stable," he said. "But this is the choice of those who deliver aid. . . . I would hope people who deliver humanitarian assistance would be choosy in selecting the means of delivery."

Finer reported from Mosabruni. Staff writers Tara Bahrampour in Tbilisi and Dan Eggen in Washington contributed to this report.