Georgia: Russian Armored Columns On the Move South

UNITED NATIONS — Georgian government sources claim that Russian military units are again on the move, penetrating further south despite repeated proclamations by Moscow that it had begun a withdrawal.

In an email sent to Newsmax by the Georgian foreign ministry late Wednesday morning, it is reported that a Russian armored column is on the move from Kashuri to Bojormi, and a second column is advancing to the village of Sachkhere. Neither U.S. nor Russian government sources, however, would confirm the Georgian reports.

It was in Bojormi last week that Moscow overran a Georgian military base and gutted it. Though the Russians had vacated the village (about 30 miles north of the capital Tbilisi), it now seems they have re-entered the region.

The Russian moves come as the United Nations Security Council remains deadlocked on any reaction to the Georgian crisis.

A draft ceasefire Security Council resolution circulated by France on Tuesday was almost immediately dismissed by Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin. Churkin's dismissal and veto threat sent Council diplomats back to the drawing board while Moscow continued to solidify its hold on the occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The latest Russian troop movements also come as an emergency meeting of NATO in Brussels on Tuesday produced no substantive course of action. Russian television reported from Brussels that the Atlantic alliance had become deeply divided on how to handle the Georgian standoff.