Witnesses: Russia moves to Georgian border

TBILISI, Georgia, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Russian troops advanced through South Ossetia Sunday en route to the Georgian border, witnesses say.

The New York Times said while the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe says Georgia is prepared for cease-fire negotiations, Russia appeared to be tightening its military grip in South Ossetia. However, a Russian defense official says his country has no plans cross the border into Georgia.

"We don't intend to take the initiative to escalate the conflict at this time," Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn said.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the conflict in South Ossetia has claimed dozens of lives and caused tens of thousands of people to flee the war-torn region.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement Sunday its researchers collected data indicating that a field hospital received 52 wounded -- about 90 percent of them military -- Saturday and Sunday. The hospital anticipated receiving another 170 wounded, the report said.

HRW said Russian official figures indicated more than 24,000 people had crossed the border from South Ossetia into Russia, and 11,190 had returned to South Ossetia. However, officials said the figures are unreliable because so many people had gone back and forth across the border.

Some displaced civilians provided accounts of shelling against residences and said families had been separated by the violence.

The movement of the Russian troops came as Georgia said it had pulled its troops from the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. The troops, which were ordered into the breakaway region Friday by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, were returning to positions they held before Thursday, CNN reported.