Georgia: Tbilisi Suspects Russia of Military Build-Up

Amid opposition protests in Tbilisi, the Georgian government claimed April 10 that Russia is reinforcing its military contingents in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze announced that he is "highly concerned" about an alleged build-up of Russian troops and military hardware on the two regions' administrative borders with Georgian-controlled territory. "Three landing ships have departed from Sevastopol and are heading for Abkhazia," Vashadze told reporters.

In an April 8 statement to reporters, Deputy Interior Minister Eka Zghuladze said that 150 Russian armored vehicles had been moved to Akhalgori in South Ossetia, and 35 such vehicles to the district of Gali in southern Abkhazia. Russian planes have been patrolling both regions since April 7, she said.

Terming the information "alarming," Zghuladze stressed that she would not "dramatize" the alleged troop movements by claiming that Russia was seeking to capitalize on the April 9 opposition protests in Tbilisi.

The Russian Defense Ministry denied Vashadze's allegations of sending additional troops and materiel to Georgia, Interfax reported. Some Russian news sources confirmed, however, that the Russian military is reinforcing the administrative borders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia supposedly to prevent a spillover of tensions from Georgia proper.