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Russians, Looters Advance on Georgia

Reports suggest seige of Gori, despite ceasefire agreement

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 13, 2008 6:31 AM CDT

(Newser) – Georgians claimed that Russian tanks advanced from South Ossetia into the city of Gori today, despite a ceasefire brokered by the EU yesterday. Villages were being burned and looted, eyewitnesses told the Guardian. Though the Russian army denied any advance, tanks appeared to be targeting Georgian military sites, followed by bands of maurauding "irregulars," including Ossetians and Chechens. A reporter for the Guardian described the scene as one of "absolute panic. The idea there of a ceasefire is ridiculous."

"As I speak, the Russian tanks are attacking the town of Gori and are rampaging through the town," Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian president, said at a press conference today, speaking alongside leaders of other former Soviet states. But in Moscow, a top military official insisted that there was no Russian maneuver taking place, "and there is no reason to be, because Gori authorities have fled the city."

Russian tanks enter Tskhinvali, capital of Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Monday, Aug. 11, 2008. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

Ossetian soldiers on top of a tank enter Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Monday, Aug. 11, 2008, next to a giant portrait of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and... (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

A woman is seen with a cart of her belongings, in a street in Tskhinvali, capital of Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008. (AP Photo/Musa Sadulayev)

A Georgian woman cries in front of her destroyed apartment building in the city of Gori, Georgia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

Russian soldiers take cover as a tank convoy enters Tskhinvali, capital of the Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Monday, Aug. 11, 2008. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

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Russians, Looters Advance on Georgia

Reports suggest seige of Gori, despite ceasefire agreement

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Russian Troops Remain in Georgia

Medvedev backs seperatist regions

EU Report: Georgia Started War

But Russia broke international law, militia committed genocide

Russian Army Leaves Georgian Buffer Zones

Troops will stay in breakaway regions; EU forces to remain

Georgia Cuts Diplomatic Ties With Moscow

Nation withdraws embassy staff from 'aggressor nation'

Russia Will Absorb South Ossetia 'in Several Years'

'Separatist regimes ... cut off from reality,' Georgian official fires back

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Russians, Looters Advance on Georgia

Reports suggest seige of Gori, despite ceasefire agreement

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Russia • Georgia • Abkhazia • South Ossetia • Gori

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Russian Troops Remain in Georgia

Medvedev backs seperatist regions

EU Report: Georgia Started War

But Russia broke international law, militia committed genocide

Russian Army Leaves Georgian Buffer Zones

Troops will stay in breakaway regions; EU forces to remain

Georgia Cuts Diplomatic Ties With Moscow

Nation withdraws embassy staff from 'aggressor nation'

Russia Will Absorb South Ossetia 'in Several Years'

'Separatist regimes ... cut off from reality,' Georgian official fires back

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

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More News

What is Newser?