Russian troops on high readiness in South Ossetia

Source: AP

Russian troops on high readiness in South Ossetia

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 22 mins ago

MOSCOW – Russian troops in the breakaway province of South Ossetia have been put on increased combat readiness amid rising tensions on the de facto border with Georgia, officials said Tuesday.

Andrei Nesterenko, the spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, said the move was a response to Georgian "provocations" and meant to prevent more violence.

"The most important thing now is to prevent escalation and not to allow skirmishes to grow into bigger clashes," Nesterenko said.

The situation near South Ossetia has become increasingly tense as the first anniversary of the Russian-Georgian war approaches Friday, with Georgia and Russia blaming each other for provocations and intentions to resume fighting.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090804/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_georgia

Russia will use any excuse to go into Georgia on a permanent basis. I believe it's always been Putin's aim (I know he's not the president of Russia but I'm sure he's pulling the strings) to pull the USSR back together again...by force if necessary.

The Russians have a temporary lease with the Ukrainians, but Kiev has made it clear that the Russian lease on Sebastapol will not be renewed when it expires on 2017, which effectively leaves the Russian Black Sea Fleet homeless. Russia has NO naval facilities on the Black Sea capable of permanently housing the fleet, and they're looking at the equivalent of tens of billions to build a new major base from scratch.

Poti gives the Russians what they need. A warm water port with facilities already built, plenty of fuel and resources to sustain the fleet, and easy transportation links to the rest of Russia. Poti was the "second" home of the Black Sea fleet during the days of the USSR and is more than capable of housing the entire fleet today.

Chechen rebel intelligence units have been monitoring armoured columns heading south through North Ossetia steadily for several days now..