Russia Rubbishes Bombing Claims

Sky News
Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Russia has slammed claims that its forces are continuing to attack Georgia after announcing an end to the five-day war in the region.
Georgia’s acting ambassador to Britain has told Sky News Russian jets were bombing civilian targets in Georgia despite Moscow’s announcement that it was calling off its troops.

Georgei Badridze said that Russian bombers had hit targets including a hospital in the town of Gori, villages away from the combat zone and a minibus carrying civilians.

He said the strikes had been carried out after the announcement by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that the military offensive to protect South Ossetia had been called off.

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“We’re talking about strikes from helicopter gunships which could not have mistaken these places for anything else,” he said.

“If their plan to totally destroy Georgian statehood fails at this stage, they (want to) make us bleed economically.”

Witnesses also reported seeing 135 Russian military vehicles driving through Georgia toward Khodori Gorge, part of the breakaway region of Abkhazia controlled by Georgia.

Russia’s defence ministry slammed the claims of continuing military action as “provocations”, and Russian reports said Georgian forces were shooting at them.

A Russian news agency reported that the ministry had admitted some shots were being fired, but only under “provocation”.

The five-day conflict was started when Georgia tried to take control of the pro-Russian province of South Ossetia.

Casualty figures given by each side vary widely, with Russia claiming thousands of deaths and Georgia hundreds.

Moscow accused Georgia of “war crimes” in the area, saying thousands of civilians had been killed before it stepped in and comparing the situation to the war in Kosovo in the 1990s, when European forces stepped in to protect a persecuted minority.

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