U.S. accuses Russia of campaign of scorched earth in Georgia

The United States accused Russia yesterday of waging a campaign to cripple Georgia's ability to defend itself in the future.

As American military transport aircraft landed in Tbilisi to strong complaints from Moscow, the Russian Army undertook search-and-destroy missions on Georgian soil, defying the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Sarkozy of France.

Tanks and soldiers continued to occupy Gori despite promising to leave by yesterday. A Georgian military base in the city was destroyed and the Georgian Ambassador to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe accused the Russians of laying mines before a withdrawal.

The Pentagon vented its anger with Moscow by cancelling two joint naval exercises involving Russian ships. In a clear sign that the Georgia crisis was escalating into a broader superpower conflict, the US reached agreement with Poland last night over the controversial missile defence shield.

Under the deal, the US will beef up Polish defences with Patriot rockets and place ten missile defence interceptors in Poland. Donald Tusk, the Polish Prime Minister, said that the US had pledged to come to the aid of his country if it came under attack.

In Georgia, Russian troops destroyed four coastguard vessels and radar facilities in the Black Sea port of Poti, which is critical to the country's economy, and scoured forests and fields outside the city for Georgian military equipment.

The US said that Russia was deliberately sabotaging airfields and military bases to weaken Georgia's military. In turn, the deputy head of Russia's General Staff raised doubts about the aid delivered to Tbilisi on board C17 transports of the US Air Force.

"American military transport aviation say they are delivering a certain humanitarian cargo to Tbilisi airport, though they said we had bombed the airport two days ago," Colonel-General Anatoli Nogovitsyn told reporters in Moscow.

"Let's ask them: will they invite you to check whether it is humanitarian or not? What is in it in reality? It is of major concern to Russians."

He said that Russian peacekeepers were conducting intelligence operations in Poti, adding: "If it is inside the peacekeeping zone of responsibility, then it is legitimate for intelligence, information and special groups to be there."

Two US C17 transport aircraft landed in Tbilisi, from the US airbase in Ramstein, Germany, bringing children's cots, sleeping bags, blankets and medical supplies for refugees displaced by the conflict, the United States said.

Air force crew were delivering the aid, but distribution was being managed by the United States Agency for International Development and the Georgian Health Ministry. Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, said that more supplies were expected to arrive "in the days ahead by both air and sea".

The Pentagon is understood to have redeployed military spy satellites to monitor Russian activities and intentions in Georgia. One US official said: "When the Russians come across an abandoned Georgian military installation, they are not leaving them as is."

Mr Gates ruled out any US military intervention in Georgia but warned Moscow that relations would be "adversely affected" for years unless its "aggressive posture and actions" came to an end. He said that he had been assured by Anatoli Serdyukov, his Russian counterpart, that Russia had "no intention of going into Georgia" and that the US had based its initial response on "what we were being told - particularly by the Russians".

President Medvedev of Russia met the separatist leaders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the Kremlin yesterday as Sergei Lavrov, his Foreign Minister, declared that the world could "forget about" Georgia's territorial integrity.

Mr Lavrov said that it would be impossible to persuade the two breakaway regions to rejoin Georgia and Mr Medvedev went farther, giving a clear sign that the Kremlin was preparing to incorporate both into Russia. He told the separatist leaders that Russia would support any decision taken by the two regions about their future. "We won't just support this solution but will guarantee it, both in the Caucasus and the world as a whole."

At the UN, Russia made clear that it would oppose a resolution affirming the territorial integrity of Georgia. Vitaly Churkin, Russia's UN representative, said: "Territorial integrity has become a very thorny issue."

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, who is planning to visit Tbilisi today, repeated her demand for Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgian territory. "The Russian President has said that their military operations have halted. We would hope that he is true to his word and that their operations will halt," she said.

Tensions rose sharply between Russia and another of its neighbours after Serhiy Kirchenko, the Ukrainian chief of staff, said that he would "do everything" to carry out an order restricting the movements of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Ukraine, like Georgia, is seeking membership of Nato.

President Yushchenko of Ukraine signed a decree requiring the fleet, based in the Crimean port of Sevas-topol, to give 72 hours' notice of any ship movements. But General Nogovitsyn in Moscow said that the restrictions would be ignored. "We have one general commander for the Black Sea Fleet," he said. "It is the President of Russia and all commands from outside are illegitimate to us."