Posted on 08/08/2008 4:55:25 PM PDT by BGHater
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of volunteer fighters from Russia were mobilising to enter the war in Georgia's breakaway republic of South Ossetia last night.
Units of armed Cossacks from across the North Caucasus region which borders Georgia were poised to join the battle for the separatists' capital, Tskhinvali.
In North Ossetia, the region of Russia which shares cultural links and a border with South Ossetia, lists of men willing to fight against Georgian forces were drawn up. Vitaly Khubayev, 35, from the capital, Vladikavkaz, told the Guardian: "There are already two busloads of fighters leaving for Tskhinvali every day. They give you a uniform on the way and you get issued with weapons once you arrive. If I didn't have three children I'd have gone."
The two Ossetias are historically inseparable and residents of the northern republic were furious yesterday at what they described as the "Georgian fascist attack" on their neighbours.
Many said they were willing to take up arms and travel to defend their relatives across the border in South Ossetia. Valentin Tekhti, 67, a teacher, said: "Our Ossetian brothers are dying. If we get the call, every man who can stand on two legs will go to fight."
Amiran Khubetsov, a doctor, said: "A nation is under bombardment in the land it has occupied for hundreds of years. The world must not ignore this aggression."
At a special meeting of the UN security council yesterday morning, the United States called on the Kremlin to prevent irregulars entering South Ossetia via the 4km Roki tunnel, the republic's only link with Russia. But at a meeting with the US president, George Bush, in Bejing, the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, admitted "many volunteers" were heading to South Ossetia and it would be "very hard to maintain peace".
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Do Kossacks still carry horses around as part of an initiation? shades of Taras Bulba..
Hopefully cooler heads will prevail.. this cold get ugggly.
Will they also rape and pillage in Cossack fashion?
+u ]
Sounds like a lot of bad blood is spilling over in the Caucasus.
Guardian is still carrying water for fascists, I see.
Have the Cossack wives and children followed with picnic lunches and blankets?
yitbos
Like Russia needs reinforcements. This sucks for the free country of Georgia
Hope they don't have a work accident in that tunnel.
Could get ugly? 1,400 are dead
Georgia Controls Most of S. Ossetia - Saakashvili
TBILISI. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in an address to the Georgian nation on Friday that Georgian troops took control of most of South Ossetia overnight.
"We've fully liberated the Znauri and Tsinagari districts, some villages and fighting is now taking place in the center of Tskhinvali. Its outskirts are under our full control," Saakashvili said.
1,400 are dead. This isnt sabre rattling
This is too bad, many Cossacks fought for the White Army Against the Red Army in an effort to prevent the Bolshevik take over of Russia. This time they are on the wrong side.
Barama will sort this out in short order
Georgia is pulling its troops in Iraq to come fight.
1-2000
1,400?
You’d never know it by media coverage.
That reminded me of a scene in the movie Enemy at the Gates which takes place during the battle of Stalingrad. In the early stages of the movie Russian conscripts were sent to the front and equipped in a similar fashion. I always thought it rather strange, but I suppose that if things need to be accomplished in a hurry, it might work.
What will the Turks do?
1,400
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