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Armed Cossacks
pour in to fight Georgians
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of volunteer fighters from
Russia were mobilising to enter the war in Georgia's breakaway republic of
South Ossetia last night.
Units of armed Cossacks from across the North Caucasus
region which borders Georgia were poised to join the battle for the
separatists' capital, Tskhinvali.
In North Ossetia, the region of Russia which shares cultural
links and a border with South Ossetia, lists of men willing to fight against
Georgian forces were drawn up. Vitaly Khubayev, 35, from the capital,
Vladikavkaz, told the Guardian: "There are already two busloads of
fighters leaving for Tskhinvali every day. They give you a uniform on the way and
you get issued with weapons once you arrive. If I didn't have three children
I'd have gone."
The two Ossetias are historically inseparable and residents
of the northern republic were furious yesterday at what they described as the
"Georgian fascist attack" on their neighbours.
Many said they were willing to take up arms and travel to
defend their relatives across the border in South Ossetia. Valentin Tekhti, 67,
a teacher, said: "Our Ossetian brothers are dying. If we get the call,
every man who can stand on two legs will go to fight."
Amiran Khubetsov, a doctor, said: "A nation is under
bombardment in the land it has occupied for hundreds of years. The world must
not ignore this aggression."
At a special meeting of the UN security council yesterday morning,
the United States called on the Kremlin to prevent irregulars entering South
Ossetia via the 4km Roki tunnel, the republic's only link with Russia. But at a
meeting with the US president, George Bush, in Bejing, the Russian prime
minister, Vladimir Putin, admitted "many volunteers" were heading to
South Ossetia and it would be "very hard to maintain peace".
Under Russia law, Cossacks - the descendants of runaway
serfs and outlaws who in the past were employed to protect the country's
southern border - are allowed to carry arms and carry out policing functions in
cooperation with interior ministry forces.
At the headquarters of the Terek Cossacks in Vladikavkaz
yesterday a group of men sat under portraits of fierce looking warriors with
drooping moustaches watching television coverage of Georgian artillery shelling
Tskhinvali. One man said there would be a meeting today to discuss forming
volunteer units.
In Volgograd the leader of the Don Cossacks, Viktor
Vodolatsky, called on all Cossacks under 40 to volunteer. Reports said 100 men
from the region had already left for Tskhinvali. "We must help our South
Ossetian brothers," he said.
Irregular troops from the north Caucasus played an important
role in the conflicts that saw both Georgia's breakaway regions, Abkhazia and
South Ossetia, secede in the early 1990s.
In Abkhazia, Cossack and Chechen units fought side by side
against Georgian troops, despite being historical enemies. Abkhazia has
promised to help South Ossetia in its conflict with Georgia.
Ossetians in Vladikavkaz yesterday said they were hoping for
a decisive strike by the Russian army to drive Georgia's forces out of South
Ossetia. There were emotional scenes in the city, as hundreds of protesters,
mostly women, gathered outside the regional government headquarters and
shouted, "Russia, save us!"
Aelita Dzhioyeva, 41, a lawyer who fled Tskhinvali on
Thursday evening, showed text messages on her mobile phone from relatives still
sheltering in a basement in the city. One message read: "We are dying. Ask
the government for help."
Dzhioyeva said: "Our men will stay and fight until the
last drop of blood, but our old people and children must be saved. We are
calling on the Kremlin to intervene and create a humanitarian corridor for them
to escape."
Shota Kochiev, 60, said: "This is America's doing. They
are supporting Georgia's mad lust for new land - our land."
About 2,000 refugees from South Ossetia, mostly women and
children, have so far been bussed to Russia and are staying in hotels around
Vladikavkaz
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