Russia Reinforces Outposts in Poti

Georgia said that Russian troops, instead of showing signs of withdrawal, had reinforced their outposts outside the port town of Poti over the weekend.

“The Russian occupation force is reinforcing – rather than vacating – its checkpoints near the strategic commercial port of Poti," the Georgian government said in a statement released on September 7.

It said that one checkpoint was reinforced with five armored personnel carriers (APC) and about 50 troops, while another was reinforced with one APC and about 10 troops.

A Poti-based journalist working for the RFE/RL Georgian Service also reported that the checkpoints had been reinforced. She wrote on her blog that the outposts had been reinforced by six armored vehicles.

The Georgian government also said that two Russian aircraft entered Georgian airspace on September 7, flying for about 45 minutes over Tskhinvali, the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, and Shatili, a region in northern Georgia close to the Russian border. The Georgian government said the Russian aircraft were “presumably on a reconnaissance mission.”