Russia has deployed short range SS-21 missiles to South Ossettia. This is in direct violation of the EU brokered cease fire agreement. SS-21’s can carry not only a conventional payload, but also either nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons.

A battalion of Russia’s 76th Guards Airborne Division was moved from Pskov to Beslam, a few miles on the Russian side of the Georgian border. Several other battalions elsewhere in Russia have been ordered to be ready to deploy. This is significant because it means that Russia is moving more troops into the area to re-enforce those already in Georgia.

It would be the equivalent of America sending “peace keeping troops” to Canada, and then – on the day we’re supposed to be withdrawing back into the US — sending a battalion of heavy infantry to Detroit, and ordering several other battalions to be ready to deploy to the area at a moment’s notice.

This news comes as Russian forces were supposed to be pulling out of Georgian territory. They were supposed to be pulling back to the positions that they held when the fighting began on August 7^th. However, news agencies including the Telegraph, AP, and FOX News are reporting that not only have Russian forces not begun to pull back to their August 7^th positions, some are in fact moving closer to the Georgian capitol of Tbilisi. They are also still in control of the Georgian cities of Gori, Igoeti, Zugdidi, and Senaki.

The United States has been flying humanitarian aid into the area. At least 6 flights have landed since President Bush authorized the aid. Several more flights were expected to land on Tuesday. In the mean time, the Russian military has blocked 11 trucks carrying flour from entering Tbilisi.

Russian puppet President Dmitry Medvedev sent other ex-Soviet states thinking of challenging Russia’s authority a message that that sort of thing won’t be tolerated.

“If anyone thinks that they can kill our citizens and escape unpunished, we will never allow this,” he said. “If anyone tries this again, we will come out with a crushing response. We have all the necessary resources, political, economic and military.”

Of course, as I’ve noted before, Russia provoked this fight with Georgia by:

• Handing out Russian passports to people living in Georgian territory.
• Backing the South Ossettian rebels with both financial help and military equipment.
• Closing it’s border with Georgia
• Suspending air and ground transportation links.
• Imposing an embargo on Georgian agricultural exports.
• Allowed Russian banks to operate “virtually unregulated” with unlicensed Abkhazian banks.
• Strengthened ties with separatist leaders in South Ossettia and Abkhazia.
• Shot down an unmanned and unarmed Georgian surveillance drone flying over it’s own territory.
• Sent heavy combat troops with artillery as “peace keepers” to Abkhazia (why do peace keeping troops need artillery?).
• Sent Russian military personnel into Georgia to repair a rail line without Georgia’s permission.

Regarding the repair of the rail line; I don’t know which rail line this is, but it’s possible that this repair was made in preparation for this invasion. I can’t find the source, but if I remember correctly, Russia did use rail lines to get some if it’s troops into Georgia. I mean, why else would Russia repair a Georgian rail line in Georgian territory. It’s fairly obvious — after the way Russia has behaved in this conflict — that it wasn’t out of the goodness of their hearts.

So, at the end of the day today, things seem to be getting worse. Russia is still in Georgian territory in violation of the cease fire. They have further solidified their positions in Georgian territory. They’re moving more re-enforcements into the area. There’s also that other new twist to things… they have moved short range SS-21’s into South Ossettia in violation of the cease fire agreement.

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