Russian forces shell deserted city of Gori, hours before ceasefire

Russian forces shell deserted city of Gori, hours before ceasefire

August 12, 2008

Tony Halpin in Gori

Russian forces shelled the deserted city of Gori today, hours before President Dmitri Medvedev ordered a halt to military operationsagainst Georgia.

In the first confirmation that Russian troops had moved to theoutskirts of the city, as fragmentation shells landed around Gori'smain square, dominated by a statue of Joseph Stalin.One shell killed a Dutch television cameraman, Stan Storimans, andwounded his correspondent colleague Jeroen Akkermans after it landednext to Gori's media centre, where international journalists had beenworking throughout the crisis. The building's windows had shatteredand shrapnel peppered walls as much as 10 feet up.An eyewitness told The Times that at least four local residents hadalso been killed in blasts. Zhura Akopashvili said that the shells hadfallen in rapid succession, scattering metal fragments into cars andbuildings.

Broken glass carpeted the street after the explosions damagedbuildings around the square. The only food store that had operated inthe city throughout the conflict was also severely damaged."There was a noise and then suddenly explosions. We didn't hear anyaircraft, they just came from nowhere, the poor journalists neverstood a chance," Mr Akopashvili said, pointing to the spot near thefoodstore where the TV crew had been hit.The Times was shown a fragment of what appeared to be a Grad missilethat had struck an apartment building just behind the main square.

Zhuzhuna Merabishvili stood in shock next to the casing as she watchedher home being consumed by a fire that raged through the building."I was inside with my son when it hit. There was a huge noise and wewere thrown to the floor," she said sobbing, her left arm shakinguncontrollably. "We were the only ones left in the building, everyoneelse had gone. I have only one home so where should I go? Now I don'teven have that."Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy head of the General Staffin Moscow, denied that Russian forces had attacked Gori, which wasabandoned in a panic yesterday by Georgian troops and tanks.

The streets of this normally thriving city of 50,000 were eerilyquiet. Shops are locked up and apartment buildings deserted becausevirtually the whole population has left.The few remaining residents said that Russian jets had bombed thehillsides overlooking the city earlier in the day. Plumes of smokecould be seen rising from the hills as The Times approached Gori.

After President Medvedev's announcement of a halt to operations,however, The Times saw three attack helicopters rising suddenly frombehind a hillside deep into Georgia about halfway along the road fromGori to Tbilisi.In Tbilisi, long queues formed at petrol stations as anxious Georgiansfilled their cars in anticipation of having to flee a Russian advance.

Many stores were also shut and the government ordered banks to closefor three days to prevent a run on the Georgian currency.This afternoon, as many as 50,000 Georgians joined a demonstration ofsupport for Mr Saakashvili, who addressed the gathering as red andwhite Georgian flags fluttered defiantly all over Tbilisi's centralRustaveli Avenue.