Tensions rise as Russia deploys extra troops into Abkhazia

RUSSIA said yesterday an extra contingent of its troops had begun arriving in Georgia’s break-away region of Abkhazia, a move Tbilisi said was an illegal act of military aggression.

Russia announced this week it was deploying hundreds of additional peacekeeping troops to the tiny sliver of land of the Black Sea to counter what it said were Georgian plans for an attack on Moscow-backed separatists in the region.

Georgia summoned Russia’s ambassador to protest against the deployment and said it had raised tensions in the region where separatists fought a war against Georgian forces in the 1990s.