15 Aug 2008
Confusion in Gori
In the days since the cease-fire brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, confusion over the plans and intentions of Russian forces in Gori has reigned.
First, Russian officials said Wednesday, August 13 that Russian forces would be leaving the city within hours, but as Thursday broke in the deserted city, tanks and troops were still there. While it appeared to the Washington Post that Russians were leaving, only to return to the city a few hours later, journalists from the International Herald Tribune chatted with Russian officers as they ordered around reluctant Georgian policemen in the city.
The Russian mission — both its goal and its timeframe — remained unclear to all. Journalists watched as Russian troops pillaged Gori’s nearby military base, one of the largest in the country. Russian troops were seen burning and dismantling barracks and tanks, and rounding up American-made machine guns and shipping them North, either to Russia or South Ossetia.
At the same time, according to Libération, Russians played “cat and mouse” with Georgian troops loaded into SUV’s buzzing around the city. Ossetian “irregulars” seemed to roam around Russian check-points in a disorganized fashion seizing cameras and vehicles from journalists and looting stores, occasionally caught and rebuked by Russian officers.
[Major General Vyacheslav] Borisov, who had been asked repeatedly when the armor might be withdrawn from Gori, at last shrugged. He said maybe in one day, or maybe two. He did not seem to know, either.
“I am going home to Moscow,” he said. “I have potatoes to pick.”