"The border has been along this river for 1,000 years," separatist official Ruslan Kishmaria told AP on Wednesday. He said Georgia would have to accept the new border and taunted the departed Georgian forces by saying they had received "American training in running away."

An APTN television crew in Gori saw some Russian armored vehicles Wednesday morning near a military base there. Puffs of smoke in the air indicated some military action.

An AP photographer saw several Russian troops and two armored vehicles on the northern outskirts of the city. His driver went further up the road and ran into Russian military volunteers, who warned that Russian forces would soon shell Gori.

Georgia insisted its troops were driven from Abkhazia by Russian forces. At first, Russia said separatists — not Russian forces — had done the job. But the claim rang hollow — an AP reporter saw 135 Russian military vehicles heading toward the gorge Tuesday and Russia is the military patron for the separa