MOSCOW. Russia turned down a French-sponsored draft UN Security Council resolution on the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, proposed at the Council’s August 11 meeting, Reuters said.

The French side said the draft resolution was based on the following three principles: an immediate cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of Russian forces from South Ossetian territory and respect for Georgia’s territorial integrity, and assistance to conflict victims.

As a permanent UN Security Council member, Russia vetoed the draft resolution and said official Moscow considered it unacceptable.

“Several provisions of the draft resolution have not been finalised. The document says nothing about aggression and outrages committed by the Georgian military,” Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s Permanent Representative (Ambassador) tothe United Nations, said.

MOSCOW. In the early morning of August 12, the Abkhazian Armed Forces started driving Georgian military units out of the Kodori Gorge, reported the Vesti 24 round-the-clock TV channel.

On August 11, the self-proclaimed republic’s Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba told RIA Novosti over the phone that Abkhazia was ready to allow civilians to leave the Kodori Gorge’s upper sector, where its Armed Forces were forcing out Georgian forces, and could guarantee people’s safety.

The CIS Collective Peacekeeping Forces comprising Russian military personnel maintain peace in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone. Talks on settlingthe conflict had been broken off in 2006.

TSKHINVAL. Combat operations in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone are conducted at least 20 km south of Tskhinval, Ossetian militiamen told RIA Novosti.

“The fighting is taking place 18-20 km from here,” militiaman Alan told a RIA Novosti correspondent. His statement is confirmed indirectly by the fact that gunfire, rather than artillery-shell explosions, can be heard in the city.

The volunteers said only Russian Defence Ministry units were involved in hostilities.“We are still resting. But, if need be, we will go there,” the militiamen said.

Russian combat helicopters are flying over Tskhinval. According to some sources, they are conducting aerial reconnaissance in the city’s environs becausesome Georgian units or mercenaries may still be hiding there.

MOSCOW. Russia is completing the peace enforcement operation in Georgia, President Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting with Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and General Staff Chief Nikolai Makarov.

“After hearing your report, I have decided to complete the peace enforcement operation in Georgia,” President Medvedev said. The Russian General Staff said Russian forces in South Ossetia had been ordered to stop at their current positions.

President Medvedev stressed that Russian forces would wipe out any new hotbeds of aggression on Georgian territory if they appear after the completion of the peace enforcement operation.“The operation has accomplished its objective. The security of peacekeeping forces and the safety of civilians have been restored, the aggressor has been punished and has sustained considerable losses,” President Medvedev said.

“Although the aggressor’s Armed Forces are disorganised, you must destroy any new pockets of resistance and thwart all other aggressive intentions, if they appear,” President Medvedev said.

The Russian leader also ordered Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov to recommend
military personnel involved in the South Ossetian operation for state awards.

The Russian Defence Ministry said one officer and 17 sergeants and soldiers had been killed in Georgia during the conflict. Deputy General Staff Chief Colonel- General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said one general, two officers and 49 sergeants and soldiers had been wounded during the conflict, and that 14 more soldiers were reported missing.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said about 1,600 civilians had been killed during hostilities, and that over 30,000 refugees had fled from South Ossetia.

MOSCOW. The Georgian Army in South Ossetia has gone over to the defence and is withdrawing its units from their positions, Deputy General Staff Chief Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn told a RIA Novosti news conference.

“On Monday, hostilities in South Ossetia were only conducted in daytime. Sporadic fire was reported, and Tskhinval was shelled. However, Georgian forces have gone on the defensive and are withdrawing,” Nogovitsyn said.

He said up to three Georgian infantry brigades, one artillery brigade and three anti-tank brigades were deployed in South Ossetia on Tuesday.“This means that, despite official statements, Georgia has not renounced its attempts to solve the South Ossetian problem by force,” Nogovitsyn said.

MOSCOW. Russian reconnaissance does not register the withdrawal of Georgian military units from the South Ossetian conflict zone, Deputy General Staff Chief Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn told a RIA Novosti news conference.“Our reconnaissance is not registering any Georgian pullout,” Nogovitsyn said.“Even if Georgian units had been ordered to withdraw, we are not witnessing this anywhere,” Nogovitsyn added. Colonel-General Nogovitsyn declined to comment on statements that the Georgian Armed Forces lacked discipline and did not fulfill the orders of their
Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

MOSCOW. The Georgian military operation to seize South Ossetia was codenamed Operation Open Field, Deputy General Staff Chief Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn told a RIA Novosti news conference.

“This expression brings to mind a burnt-out field, which is what Tskhinval resembles

TSKHINVAL. Nearly 70% of buildings in Tskhinval, the capital of South Ossetia, were damaged by shelling and bombing of the city after Georgia launched combat operations on August 8, City Mayor Robert Guliyev told journalists.

“Up to 70% of municipal buildings were damaged to a varying extent and even completely destroyed. The same can be said of private homes,” Guliyev said.

He said only about 15,000 civilians remained in the city, out of the 30,000 who had lived there before the shelling began. He could not specify the number of victims among the city residents.

On August 12, Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, told a RIA Novosti briefing that Tskhinval had ceased to exist, and that its ruins were reminiscent of Stalingrad during WWII. He said the city’s water-supply system was out of order, and that all nurseries, schools and the only local hospital had been destroyed on the very first day of the fighting. The Defence Ministry spokesman said the Russian side had allocated the required funding to restore the capital of South Ossetia.

Nogovitsyn said field bakeries had been deployed in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone, and that food and drinking water were also being deliveredto the area.

MOSCOW. Russia said it had stopped the military operation in the Georgian- South Ossetian conflict zone aiming to protect the self-proclaimed republic’s population, but reserved the right to use military force if Georgian forces continued to attack South Ossetia.

South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity expressed approval of the Russian leadership’s decision to stop the military operation, but said he doubted that the war was really over.

The Georgian leadership reacted in a restrained manner and noted the need for signing a peace agreement with Russia. In previous days, the Georgian media claimed Russian forces had seized several Georgian cities, including Gori and Zugdidi.

“The Russian troops in Abkhazia are accomplishing combat objectives. Russian forces control Senaki airfield and all towns and villages in the security zone of peacekeeping forces,” said Deputy General Staff Chief Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn.

Nogovitsyn also denied the Georgian side’s claims that the aim of the Russian

MOSCOW. Georgian soldiers are firing at the positions of Russian peacekeepers and attached military units even after Russia’s decision to stop the peace enforcement operation in Georgia on Tuesday, a spokesman for the peacekeeping forces said.

“Scattered groups of Georgian soldiers have been sporadically firing at the positions of Russian peacekeepers and attached military units in various sectors,”he said.

MOSCOW. Russian peacekeepers will continue to fulfill their mission in the Caucasus, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told a news conference after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

“Russian peacekeepers abide by international agreements concluded in 1992 and bolstered by international documents passed at a later stage. They remain in force,” President Medvedev said.

“Our peacekeepers will continue to fulfill their functions because they are a key factor of security in the Caucasus,” the Russian President stressed. “This isthe way it has been and will always be,” he said.