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Are Russian fighter jets still bombing Georgia after Medvedev's ceasefire?

Updated on 12 August 2008

By Nick Paton Walsh, Jonathan Rugman

"The aggressor has been punished", says Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev, as he orders an end to military operations but Georgia claims it is still being bombed.

Medvedev said his country has attained its goals.

But Georgia continued to claim that its territory was being bombed.

President Medvedev said it was time to end the fighting after the security of Russian citizens and peacekeepers in South Ossetia had been restored.



Five days ago fighting started when Georgia sent troops into the breakaway region of South Ossetia, in response to attacks from Russian-backed separatists who want an independent South Ossetia.

Russia responded by moving troops into the disputed Georgian region.

This morning Russian warplanes bombed the town of Gori, killing at least five people.

Then at around 11am today, the Russian president ordered a halt to military operations in Georgia

Russian troops began to pull back to a buffer zone but the Georgian government said Russian fighter jets were still bombing villages in Georgia and this afternoon thousands of Georgians attended a rally in Tbilisi to protest Russian actions.

British oil firm BP announced today that as a precaution it has closed two oil and gas pipelines running through Georgia.

A ceasefire has been agreed, but not a peace deal. And the Russian president's undiplomatic language about his Georgian counterpart suggests this could take some time.

After talks in Moscow, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said Russia and Georgia had made progress.

The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, welcomed his peace plan, which includes international discussions about the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

But he branded Mikheil Saakashvili "scum". While Nato said it stood by its pledge that Georgia would one day be able to join the organisation. Jonathan Rugman reports.

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