Russian warships move in as Caucasus conflict spreads

On Georgia’s Black Sea coast, confusion surrounds the presence of Russian naval vessels. Are they there to impose a blockade, stopping arms shipments to Georgia, as some reports claim? Or is this, as other Russian media sources suggest, part of a possible “humanitarian operation”?

Either way, Ukraine says it reserves the right to temporarily bar Russian warships from returning to their Ukrainian base.

Fears of a second front in Georgia’s other breakaway region of Abkhazia are mounting.

The enclave’s separatist leader says he has sent 1,000 troops to the disputed Kodori gorge and mobilised reservists. And, according to Tbilisi, Russia has sent soldiers and artillery into Abkhazia, to storm the gorge.

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