Russian armored vehicles have entered the territory of South Ossetia. The column is expected to reach Tskhinvali by night. The information has been transmitted by the Vesti TV channel and confirmed by Interfax agency reporters
“Russia will not allow the deaths of our fellow citizens to go unpunished,” Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev said at an emergency meeting with members of the Security Council. “In accordance with the Constitution and the federal laws, as President of the Russian Federation it is my duty to protect the lives and dignity of Russian citizens wherever they may be. Our steps are dictated by these circumstances. The perpetrators will receive the punishment they deserve,” Medvedev said.
As Medvedev noted, “Georgia’s acts have caused loss of life, including among Russian peacekeepers. The situation reached the point where Georgian peacekeepers opened fire on the Russian peacekeepers with whom they are supposed to work together to carry out their mission of maintaining peace in this region. Civilians, women, children and old people, are dying today in South Ossetia, and the majority of them are citizens of the Russian Federation,” Medvedev stressed.
Russia’s top brass generals were taking part in the meeting.
The Commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces in the zone of the conflict Marat Kulakhmetov has stated that Tskhinvali “is practically destroyed in the result of long hours heavy artillery shelling.”
Georgia’s government troops have stopped military action in Tskhinvali and created a corridor for Ossetian civil citizens as well as for those South Ossetian militants who would wish to surrender.
Head of South Ossetia’s Provisional Administration” Dmitri Sanakoyev has called his compatriots in their native tongue to stop resistance.
Evgeniya Novikova
Photo: AP
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