In Georgia, Russia Digs in as Pullback Date Nears

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Russian forces dug trenches and built sentry posts deep inside Georgia on Wednesday, showing few signs they would pull back later this week as promised.Georgian soldiers suggested the Russians were trying to provoke them and justify a resumption of the conflict, which over five days pounded the infrastructure of the small former Soviet republic and the morale of its troops.

Russian soldiers prepare to drive U.S.-built Humvees in Senaki, western Georgia, Tuesday, Aug. 19,...

Russian soldiers prepare to drive U.S.-built Humvees in Senaki, western Georgia, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008. Russia continued its campaign of destroying Georgian military equipment. In western Georgia, convoys of Russian trucks and armored vehicles moved in and out of the Georgian military base at Senaki all day Monday. The movements of Russian forces in Georgia raised questions about whether Russia was fulfilling its side of the cease-fire intended to end the short but intense fighting between Georgians, Russians and its allies. (AP Photo/Vladimir Popov)

(AP)
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In the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, President Mikhail Saakashvili told The Associated Press that Russia was thinning out its presence in some of the towns it occupies but was seizing other strategic spots.

"What we're seeing now is a clear regrouping and also, again, some kind of deception campaign, saying, 'Look, we're moving out,'" Saakashvili said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has pledged his forces would retreat by Friday to South Ossetia, the breakaway Georgian province at the heart of the war, and a surrounding security cordon.

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But there have been few signs of movement other than the departure of a small contingent of Russian soldiers from Gori, a strategically located city in central Georgia.

On Wednesday, much of Georgia remained tense as Russian troops built a guard post out of timber on a hill outside Igoeti, about 30 miles from Tbilisi, and a large Russian convoy rolled near the western city of Senaki.

Russian soldiers also set up what appeared to be semi-permanent camps in at least three places in western Georgia near the Black Sea port of Poti, with dozens of men digging in by armored personnel carriers and trucks.

The warfare in a nation straining to escape Moscow's influence has sent tensions between Moscow and the West to some of their highest levels since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland. Last week a top Russian general warned Poland was risking an attack, possibly a nuclear one, by developing the base.