Russia, Georgia dispute charges over railway

TBILISI, Georgia -- Georgia accused the Russian army of destroying a key railway bridge Saturday and starting massive fires in the scenic Borjomi Gorge, in violation of a new cease-fire agreement between the two countries.

A senior Russian military official denied the allegation.

Georgia's Interior Ministry also said Saturday that Russian-backed militia members have seized control of 13 Georgian villages and a power plant in the region.

The claim could not be immediately confirmed by CNN.

The ministry told CNN that the villages and the plant -- all previously controlled by Georgia -- fall within the borders of the separatist territory of Abkhazia. Officials at the Foreign Ministry initially suspected that the move was a Russian attempt to expand Abkhazia's border with Georgia but later backed off that statement, saying the border remained intact.

Fighting that began last week has died down. However, Russian forces remained within 25 miles (40 kilometers) of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, on Saturday and were on the western front around the breakaway province of Abkhazia, according to CNN's Frederik Pleitgen.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that the agreement calls for the "immediate withdrawal" of Russian troops from its neighbor's sovereign territory, but CNN correspondents reported significant Russian troop movements Saturday.
When asked about those reports, Rice responded Saturday, "The Russians perhaps are already not honoring their word."

However, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Saturday that the cease-fire seems to be holding. There don't seem to be any aggressive Russian actions occurring, he said.

A senior Russian military official said the bridges "were the objects we tackled" during last week's fighting with Georgia. He said the allegations of Russia still attacking Georgia are "a hoax."

"Our work is devoted to peacekeeping problems," said Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of staff of Russian Armed Forces.

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said troops will not completely withdraw from Georgian territory until they have finished cleaning up ammunition, weapons and booby traps left behind by Georgian forces.


Russian soldiers are "completing security operations," spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Saturday.

The Georgia government expressed outrage over destruction of the bridge and the forest fires. It was not immediately known how much acreage the blazes covered, but the rubble and twisted metal from the Metekhi-Grakali bridge could be seen in video footage.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Russian soldiers "mined and exploded" the bridge in the Kaspi District in east-central Georgia.

The bridge provided a major route between Tbilisi and Georgian port of Poti.

"This subversive terrorist act resulted in the severing of railway links between the east and west of Georgia and connections with Georgia's seaports," the ministry said in a statement.

"Moreover, the bridge used to provide a route for refugees from the Russian-occupied territories into safe places. Russia is pursuing deliberate policy aimed at undermining Georgia's statehood, including through bringing about humanitarian catastrophe."

The gorge, a scenic canyon whose springs produce the country's popular bottled mineral water, is in central Georgia's Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, one of Europe's largest.

"Russian military helicopters started bombing the bordering territories of the city of Borjomi and settlement of Tsemi using incendiary munitions," the ministry said on its Web site.

The ministry said Georgia asked Turkey for help in fighting the fires but that Russian air patrols kept the firefighters from reaching the park.

CNN's Michael Ware, stationed outside Gori, said there were no outward signs in the devastated Georgian city that the Russians were leaving. Armored vehicles remained in place, he added.

The Russians have set up checkpoints at strategic places, CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reported, and these have made it difficult for aid organizations such as UNICEF, which has been trying to organize convoys to deliver aid.

Without mentioning any acts of Russian violence, President Bush warned Saturday, "Russia has put its aspirations at risk."

"Russia needs to honor the agreement and withdraw its forces and of course end military operations," he said from his ranch near Crawford, Texas, with Rice at his side.

Gordon Johndroe, U.S. National Security Council spokesman, said Bush conferred with Canada's prime minister and Latvia's president Saturday on the situation in Georgia.

Earlier Saturday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the cease-fire plan designed to end the military conflict with Georgia, his office said.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili signed the agreement Friday.






The conflict began late last week, when Georgia launched a military incursion into South Ossetia to rout separatist rebels.

Russia -- which supports the separatists, many of whom claim Russian citizenship -- has peacekeeping responsibilities for the region and responded by sending tanks into the province for what it said was peace enforcement. From there the violence spread into Georgia and Abkhazia.

Under the cease-fire, about 1,500 Russian peacekeepers are allowed to remain and can do patrols a short distance outside the "zone of conflict," a reference to South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

They are not permitted to patrol in Gori and other Georgian cities and cannot hamper aid distribution or control ports, highways or railroads, officials said.

It is unclear how many people have been killed in the conflict, but various claims put the figure in the thousands.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday that it estimated the fighting has displaced more than 118,000 people, citing statistics from the Russian and Georgian governments.