Western officials have also been monitoring Russian troop movements, which might be intended to strengthen Russian forces in and around Georgia. A battalion from Russia's 76th Guards Airborne Division has been deployed from Pskov to Beslan, a city in North Ossetia. Several additional battalions from the 98th Guards Airborne Division at Kostroma also appeared to be preparing over the weekend for possible deployment to the Caucasus region.
Beyond South Ossetia, the Russian military has taken other steps to raise its profile. In recent days, several Bear-H bombers have carried out training missions over the Black Sea, according to U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports. The training flights are the first flights that a Bear bomber has flown over the Black Sea in at least two years, according to U.S. military experts. The Russian bombers are capable of carrying non-nuclear cruise missiles, and government intelligence analysts have told the Pentagon that a recent Bear training flight appeared to simulate a cruise-missile attack on Georgia.
The Russian moves are seen at the Pentagon as a way for Russia to show that it considers its sphere of influence to include Georgia and other parts of the so-called near abroad zones - Belarus, Ukraine, the Caucasus and the Caspian - near Russian territory. In general, the actions are seen as a matter of muscle flexing, or "force projection," in Pentagon parlance, and are not viewed as signs that Russia intends to make a major military push to take Tbilisi.
Russian officials might also be calculating that their nation's military presence in the area might make some NATO members more skeptical toward accepting Georgia into the alliance. While the United States has strongly supported Georgia's membership, some allied officials fear they might be dragged into a war in the Caucasus if Georgia is admitted.
Concerns over the military tensions in the region might already have influenced some neighbors. U.S. officials said Turkish officials had denied Washington's request that the Baltimore-based Navy hospital ship Comfort be allowed to travel through the Turkish straits en route to Georgia. A Bush administration official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the diplomatic discussions, expressed hope that U.S. officials would eventually persuade the Turkish government to let the ship pass.
