Like scalded dogs, as some would say, Russia began fleeing the field when American forces arrived to give our Georgian allies some much needed (and disgustingly late) humanitarian aid. The Russian forces’ retreat came on the tail of some very tough talk from President Bush:

BREAKING NEWS — Georgia’s Interior Ministry says Russian troops have begun pulling out of the city of Gori, where their presence raised fears that Russia would challenge a cease-fire agreement.

Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said Thursday that Russian troops have also left Poti, a Black Sea port city with an oil terminal that is a key part of Georgia’s fragile economic health.

Russian troops entered Gori on Wednesday. The city is about 15 miles south of South Ossetia, the separatist Georgian region where Russian and Georgian forces fought a brutal five-day battle.

The entry into Gori came hours after both sides signed a cease-fire agreement that called for their forces to be pulled back to the positions they held before the fighting started a week ago.

The first C-17 plane carrying humanitarian supplies arrived Wednesday in Tbilisi, Georgia, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said. Another is scheduled to arrive on Thursday with additional supplies.

Also Wednesday, President Bush said he is skeptical that Moscow is honoring a cease-fire in neighboring Georgia, demanding that Russia end military activities in the former Soviet republic and withdraw its forces.

Bush, who pushed back his upcoming vacation to monitor the situation in Georgia, said Russia must ensure that “all lines of communication and transport, including seaports, roads and airports,” remain open to deliveries and civilians.

“The United States stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia and insists that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected,” Bush said during brief but stern remarks in the White House Rose Garden.

A little late but that’s the kind of Presidential action I like to see.

If there were still any doubts as to the goals of the Russian invasion of Georgia this TimesOnline report should make it clear that the brutal extermination of Georgian civilians is a key priority. Why else bring in troops known throughout the region as the worst of the worst?

“My name’s Shrek,” said the soldier, his eyes glazed and staring as he cradled his Kalashnikov rifle.

The nickname given by his comrades to the bald, pug-eared soldier was the only moment of light relief during a day of tense drama in which The Times witnessed Russia breaching the ceasefire agreement over South Ossetia at will.

At a checkpoint set up by the Russian Army on the approach to the city of Gori from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, an armoured personnel carrier blocked the road and riflemen had fanned out in the surrounding bushes, their weapons trained on anyone who approached.

All were ethnic Chechens, whose reputation for pitiless brutality in war made them feared throughout the Caucasus.

The checkpoint was the first evidence that the deal brokered hours earlier by President Sarkozy of France was being ignored. Shortly after President Saakashvili had signed the agreement, Russian tanks and troops rolled into Gori.

The ceasefire had specified that both the Georgian and Russian armies should withdraw after the five days of bitter fighting. But the Russians had moved up to twenty tanks, armoured personnel carriers and hundreds of soldiers miles into Georgia to occupy Gori and take control of the road leading to Tbilisi.

One soldier, Yuri, said that his unit, part of the 42nd Chechen Division, had fought for the whole five-day campaign to wrest South Ossetia from Georgian control. Asked why they had taken Gori now, he said: “We were given an order and we are following it. We don’t know how long we will be here.”

Smoke rose behind him as buildings burnt in the villages surrounding Gori. There were also prolonged bursts of automatic gunfire, although Georgian troops had abandoned the city in a panic on Monday night.

A stream of Georgians fled the area in cars, tractors and lorries, taking what belongings they could. A black Volga car crammed with passengers carried two more escapers on its roof.

One elderly couple were walking, the woman clearly in shock, her face swollen and one eye badly damaged. She pointed backwards and said: “They are killing people there, the Chechens and the Ossetians.”

The introduction of the Chechen forces is a move designed both to terrorize Georgians and bring in troops who are used to carrying out savage orders in barbarous conditions.

Additionally ThreatsWatch makes a compelling case that the recent Communist PKK bombing of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in Turkey was part of Putin’s plan to destabilize Georgia. It’s a must read.

Is this going to spill out of Georgia soon?

From Human Rights Watch:

In South Ossetia, Human Rights Watch researchers traveling on the evening of August 12 on the road from the town of Java to Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, witnessed terrifying scenes of destruction in four villages that used to be populated exclusively by ethnic Georgians. According to the few remaining local residents, South Ossetian militias that were moving along the road looted the Georgian villages and set them on fire. Human Rights Watch saw numerous vehicles carrying South Ossetian militia members, as well as Russian military transports moving in the direction of Tskhinvali.

Numerous houses in the villages of Kekhvi, Nizhnie Achaveti, Verkhnie Achaveti and Tamarasheni had been burnt down over the last day – Human Rights Watch researchers saw the smoldering remnants of the houses and household items. The villages were virtually deserted, with the exception of a few elderly and incapacitated people who stayed behind either because they were unable to flee or because they were trying to save their belongings and cattle.

“The remaining residents of these destroyed ethnic Georgian villages are facing desperate conditions, with no means of survival, no help, no protection, and nowhere to go,” said Tanya Lokshina at Human Rights Watch.

h/t La Russophobe