Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s president, has told tens of thousands of people at a rally outside the country’s parliament that Georgia will quit the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and urged Ukraine to follow suit.

Since the worsening of the conflict between Russia and Georgia, and especially after the beginning of armed aggression of Russia against Georgia, the Russian authorities and the media have widely replicated reports that “Chechen units and volunteers from Chechnya” are participating on Russian side in war against Georgia.

According to Kavkaz Center sources inside the Wilayah (Province) of Nokhchicho (Ichkeria/Chechnya) of the Caucasus Emirate, a large convoy of Russian troops supported by helicopter gunships had moved towards Georgian village of Shatili, which is located near the mountainous area of Itum-Kali district of Chechnya.