Information Dissemination Has a couple of new updates on the Naval situation in the Black Sea. If you haven’t been reading ID, you should. First, a report from the Georgians. They claim that Russia has landed 4,0000 troops by sea. Also, and Bush made reference to this in his statement, the Russians have mined and sunk several Georgian Coast Guard vessels at dock.

The second update is a report from a Russian sailor about the naval action which sank the Georgian missile boat Tbilisi. The sailor reports that the Georgians managed to damage the Russian cruiser Moskva before the Tbilisi was sunk. Another Georgian vessel was damaged in the action, but moved off under her own power. (I think this one sank later.)

Galrahn adds some comments of his own. See his readers’ comments, too.

@trangbang68:

Listen, I’ve seen Mike Sylwester on Rantburg on and off for years. (And I still remember that long series you did on the Oklahoma City Bombing, Mike.) While I don’t often agree with him, he’s a serious, bona fide poster. I hope he stays.

@Wretchard

Do you think that Bush’s humanitarian relief gambit will introduce enough uncertainty into Russia’s calculations?