Russian Onslaught Hikes War Fears

Fears of a full-scale war continued to mount today as Russian forces kept up attacks even as Georgian troops pulled out of the battlefield at South Ossetia, reports the New York Times. Russia landed ground troops at a second disputed territory, Abkhazia, and broadened its aerial assaults to the airport of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

Georgian troops, meanwhile, withdrew from pro-Moscow separatist South Ossetia where some 2,000 have died since fighting with Russian forces began last week. Georgian officials were reportedly seeking a ceasefire. The US called Russia’s moves in South Ossetia “far disproportionate to whatever threat” exists, the Washington Post reports. (More Russia stories.)