Russia sending more troops to Georgian region

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s military on Saturday said army units had arrived overnight in South Ossetia to bolster troops acting as peacekeepers and announced the imminent arrival of additional reinforcements, Russian news agencies reported.

Igor Konashenkov, an aide to the Russian infantry commander, was quoted by the agencies as saying units of the 58th army would seek to “establish peace” in the region, scene of fighting between Russian and Georgian forces for two days. Additional “special units”, he said, would arrive “in the next few hours”.

Konashenkov said three members of the Russian peacekeeping units had been killed overnight, bringing total losses to 15.