On the day the world’s attention turned to the Olympic opener in Beijing, Russia seized the opportunity for what some critics called a large-scale Soviet-style land grab. In the week preceding Russian involvement on Aug. 8, Georgia had been moving aggresively against separatists in its South Ossetia and Abkhazia provinces, moves that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin condemned from Beijing as ‘aggressive actions.’ Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili declared a state of war on Saturday as Russian attacks spread throughout the country.
Comments