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Fragile Cease-fire

Russian Army Clears Out Georgian Army Bases

By Matthias Gebauer in Tbilisi

The war is over but Russia continued operations in Georgia on Wednesday. Moscow has confirmed that it has been transporting military material out of Georgian army bases. Russia's military has also closed the Georgian port of Poti.

Liars don’t tend to be believed. That is why news agencies and foreign correspondents reacted calmly to the announcement from the Georgian National Security Council on Wednesday morning that 50 Russian tanks had just rolled into the Georgian town of Gori.

Unfortunately, Gerorgia's security council has lost its credibility. Georgia has made official announcements before about attacks that didn’t happen -- as have the Russians. Politicians all the way up to President Mikhail Saakashvili had been too quick to dramatically claim that a march on Tbilisi was imminent -- until hardly anyone believed them any more.

Around 24 hours after the cease-fire had been announced by Russia and accepted by Georgia it is difficult to get a clear picture of what is going on. Dozens of calls to foreign correspondents stationed across Georgia have, however, made one thing clear: The Russian army is active in Georgia.

There was a dramatic report on Monday morning from a correspondent with Germany's ZDF channel who was standing on the street in Gori that leads to Tbilisi. She had seen several tanks with Russian flags heading in the direction of the Georgian capital. CNN also reported that the vehicles were heading towards Tbilisi.

However, it was hard to actually tell if the tanks were traveling in the direction of the capital at all. In fact the military was just using the highway before turning north towards South Ossetia.

At the same time, it is clear that the presence of Moscow's army constitutes a massive provocation. The cease-fire seems particularly fragile at the moment.

According to journalists' reports the Russian troops are active in at least three places in Georgia: near the towns of Gori, Senaki and Poti. In two of these three places, it looks as if the Russian army is transporting military material out of Georgian bases. In Poti, a harbour town on the Black Sea, the Russian military has secured the town's strategic port.

A reporter with the Associated Press observed Russian armored vehicles driving toward a Georgian military base. It was unclear what exactly they were doing there -- there were reports of shots made by the tanks. The assumption is that the Russians were trying to enter the Georgian army base.

On Wednesday afternoon other journalists in the town of Senaki reported seeing Russian troops packing heavy weaponry and munitions at a Georgian base. There were also combat helicopters spotted in the area. On Wednesday afternoon Moscow confirmed that military material was being transported out of Georgia.

The situation on the ground may be difficult to report on, but the evidence seems to be mounting that Russia is carrying out an organized weakening of Georgia's military capability. According to one Western diplomat, this will allow the Russians to "create facts" that can't be easily reversed.