Russia Denies Buildup of its Military at Georgian Border
Russian Defense Ministry denied Tbilisi?s accusations that it has dispatched additional troops in its North Ossetian Republic, amid tensions in the Georgia?s breakaway South Ossetia.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Security MP Givi Targamadze said at a news briefing on August 24 that ?Russia was ready for large-scale, direct military intervention? in the South Ossetian conflict.
Interfax news agency reported on August 24, quoting Russian Defense Ministry?s spokesman Vyacheslav Sedov, that accusation is ?groundless?
He said that the Russian Defense Ministry is holding routine maneuvers in North Ossetia, which has ?nothing common with the developments in South Ossetia.? ?These military exercises were planned in 2003,? he added.
Georgian senior MP Givi Targamadze, who is a close associate of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, said that around 40 combat helicopters, up to 80 infantry combat and armored vehicles, as well as a squad of stormtroopers were mobilized in Russia?s North Ossetia near the Roki tunnel which links breakaway South Ossetian with North Ossetia in combat readiness, three hours after the Georgian troops captured strategic heights in South Ossetia.
?These forces were ready to intervene into the conflict. But the Georgian President Saakashvili?s decision to pull out the Georgian troops from the conflict zone prevented this,? MP Givi Targamadze said.
