The international community has called for restraint as Georgia warned of a “serious confrontation” with the Russian-backed breakaway territory of South Ossetia last week.
Only Moscow and a handful of other states have recognized South Ossetia after Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war over the region in August 2008. Russian troops have been garrisoned in both South Ossetia and the other breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia since the war.
