The Russian invasion of neighboring Georgia
Scharich said he sensed tension brewing during a visit in July. ''There were Russian tanks right on the border when I was over there,'' he said. ''It seemed like Russia was getting ready for something.'' Georgia last Thursday launched a military offensive against South Ossetia, an independent territory to the north, claiming South Ossetian separatists had bombed Georgian villages.
Russia, which borders Georgia and South Ossetia to the north, dispatched tanks and armored vehicles into South Ossetia and later into Georgia. The onslaught, including relentless air raids on Georgian territory, angered the West, bring tough words from U.S.
President George W. Bush. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today ordered a halt to military action, saying the military had punished Georgia enough.
Georgia sits on a strategic oil pipeline carrying Caspian crude to Western markets bypassing Russia, long a source of contention. Scharich flew to Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, in May for two weeks to train construction workers at Cartu Holdings on decorative concrete.
His second two-week trip in July involved a five-hour drive west to Batumi, a port city on the Black Sea, where he trained and worked on a dolphinarium project. Scharich watched news footage of bombing in cities such as Gori and Poti, which he drove through in July.
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