POTI, Georgia – Russian forces briefly seized Georgia's main seaport early Tuesday and carted away more than 20 Georgian soldiers in a raid that paralyzed one of Georgia's key commercial hubs for several hours, port officials said.
About 100 heavily armed Russian soldiers aboard six armored personnel carriers overran the port of Poti at about 8 a.m., according to port officials and witnesses. Five hours later they drove out of Poti past helpless Georgian police officers and dozens of anxious onlookers, some of whom gasped at the sight of blindfolded Georgian troops being carried away as prisoners.
More than two dozen blindfolded men in Georgian military uniforms were seized by the Russians. An Associated Press photo later showed the Georgian captives at a former military base at Senaki in western Georgia. The Russians also took at least four U.S.-made Hummer military vehicles that port officials said were from the coast guard pier.
It was another sign that Russia, despite President Dmitry Medvedev's pledge to withdraw forces starting Monday, continues to operate freely inside Georgia and appears intent on squeezing its tiny neighbor economically as well.
This was the second Russian attack of the war on the privately run commercial port on the Black Sea, 170 miles west of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. The port handled 7.7 million tons of cargo last year and is a key transshipment point for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and other countries in the region.
On Aug. 8, Russian planes bombed the main container handling area, killing three port workers and injuring three others seriously, port officials said. The attack knocked the port offline for nearly three days.
But most goods haven't left the port in several days because Russia has targeted Georgia's key transportation arteries. Russian forces control large chunks of the main east-west highway, which runs through the flash-point central town of Gori, and have destroyed part of the main railway line.
Officials haven't estimated the economic impact of the damage, but Marika Nadaraia, a port spokeswoman, said that attacks on the port amount to attacks on Georgia's neighbors as well.
"The seaport is the gateway to the Caucasus and Central Asia," Nadaraia said. "So is Russia against these countries too?"
The raid came as the two countries engaged in a brief exchange of war prisoners – 15 Georgians and five Russians – in the central village of Igoeti.
In Poti, Katrin Pachoulia, a middle-aged resident, said, "All the world is supposed to be supporting us. But where is that power?" Tears welled in her eyes as she added, "No one can stop this aggression from Russia."
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