Russians Double Force in Abkhazia

World News IN BRIEF

*MOSCOW Russia plans to station 7,600 troops in Georgia’s separatist regions, more than twice the number based there before last month’s war and a level likely to alarm the West. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said troops would stay in South Ossetia and Abkhazia to prevent any “repeat of Georgian aggression”. Last month, Moscow recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

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