Russian Troops Seize Georgian Port

by Dave Keating | August 19, 2008 at 01:10 am

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The Georgian port of Poti, an extreemly strategic and economically important city on the Black Sea, has been seized by Russian forces, according to reports. Although Moscow had said it was pulling its forces out of Georgia, it appears that is not happening. The news should have a big impact on the emergency NATO summit being convened today in response to the crisis.

Russian troops seized control of the economically vital Georgian port of Poti Tuesday morning, a day after Moscow said it had begun pulling its forces out of Georgia.

At about 9 a.m. local time, some 70 Russian peacekeeping forces entered the port grounds on seven armored personnel carriers, according to Georgian government and port officials. They detained 20 Georgian soldiers stationed in the port and confiscated their weapons, then took up positions on the territory of the port, occasionally moving in and out on armored personnel carriers and in Russian army jeeps.

"They're looking for anything that can be construed as military equipment," said Alan Middleton, chief executive of Poti Sea Port Corp.