Russia violates truce
OUTSIDE GORI, Georgia — Russian tanks rolled into the crossroads city of Gori today then thrust deep into Georgian territory, violating the truce designed to end the six-day war that has uprooted 100,000 people and scarred the Georgian landscape.
Georgian officials said Gori was looted and bombed by the Russians. An AP reporter later saw dozens of tanks and military vehicles leaving the city, roaring south.
Troops waved at journalists and one soldier jokingly shouted to a photographer: "Come with us, beauty, we're going to Tbilisi!"
To the west, Abkhazian separatist forces backed by Russian military might pushed out Georgian troops and even moved into Georgian territory, defiantly planting a flag.
"The border has been along this river for 1,000 years," separatist official Ruslan Kishmaria told AP today. He said Georgia would have to accept the new border and taunted the retreating Georgian forces, saying they had received "American training in running away."
The developments came less than 12 hours after Georgia's president said he accepted a cease-fire plan brokered by France. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that Russia was halting military action because Georgia had paid enough for its attack last Thursday on the pro-Russian breakaway province of South Ossetia.
"There is no cease-fire," Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told CNN today. "We have a humanitarian disaster on our hands."
Saakashvili gambled on a surprise attack late Thursday to regain control over South Ossetia. Instead, Georgia suffered a punishing beating from Russian tanks and aircraft that has left the country with even less control over territory than before.
About 50 Russian tanks entered Gori this morning, according to a top Georgian official, Alexander Lomaia.
