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WASHINGTON: Russia has moved short-range SS-21 missile launchers into South Ossetia since fighting there came to a halt, possibly putting the Georgian capital Tbilisi in range, US officials said on Monday.
The development came amid signs that Russia was adding ground troops and equipment to its force in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, strengthening its hold over the breakaway regions, officials said.
"We are seeing evidence of SS-21 missiles in South Ossetia," a US defence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The White House would not comment on the status of the Russian forces.
"But let me be clear: If it rolled in after August 6th, it needs to roll out," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
"That would be in keeping with the Russian commitment on withdrawal," he said as US President George W. Bush spent time on his Texas ranch.
Without confirming that a Russian build-up was underway in the enclaves, a Pentagon spokesman said: "Anything such as that or any other military equipment that was moved in would be in violation of the ceasefire and should be removed immediately."
"The only forces that are permitted to remain under the ceasefire agreement are the forces that were in there at the August 6th time-frame" before the conflict erupted, said spokesman Bryan Whitman.
In Moscow, a Russian general denied that SS-21s had been deployed in South Ossetia.
"There was no need for it," General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said at a briefing for journalists.
A second US official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said several SS-21 launchers and associated equipment entered the enclave after the fighting came to a halt last week.
The New York Times, which first reported on the move, said they entered South Ossetia on Friday.
Both officials said the short-range missiles should be capable of targeting Tbilisi.
"We're seeing them solidify their positions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia," the defence official said, adding that "more troops and more equipment" were evident in the enclaves.
The defence official said at least 10 battalions of Russian troops were in the enclaves and in Georgia. The US official put the number of Russian troops at close to 15,000.
But the defence official said it was "hard to say" whether Russia has begun pulling any troops out of Georgia and back into the enclaves.
"I can't say whether they are actually moving people out right now or not, but we do expect them to start moving out. We expect them to move out slowly, so this may take some time," he said.
It was unclear whether the SS-21s were the first to enter Georgian territory.
Deputy National Security Advisor Jim Jeffrey said a week ago that President George W. Bush, in Beijing at the time for the Olympic Games, was immediately notified August 8 "when we received news of the first two SS-21 Russian missile launchers into Georgian territory."
Bush then immediately met with Russian President Vladimir Putin about it at the Great Hall of the People, Jeffrey said.
Russia has launched about two dozen short-range missiles during the course of the conflict, which erupted August 7 with a Georgian incursion into South Ossetia and escalated with an all-out Russian offensive two days later, a senior US defence official said last week.
The SS-21 is the NATO designation for what the Russians call the "9K79-1 Tochka-U," which Nogovitsyn said was "widely used" by Russian forces.
A tactical ballistic missile, the SS-21 has a range of between 70 and 120 kilometres, and can carry conventional, chemical or tactical nuclear warheads.
US officials have made no suggestion that nuclear armed missiles have been deployed in this conflict. - AFP/de
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