Russia has grabbed a 1.5 km slice of a critical oil export pipeline in Georgia for the separatist territory of South Ossetia.
Russian troops have marked off another section of land in the disputed Georgia-controlled territory of South Ossetia, and the area of land includes a section of oil pipeline.
After Russia officially recognised South OssetiaÂ鶹´«Ã½Ó³»™s independence from Georgia in 2008, Russian troops have guarded the landÂ鶹´«Ã½Ó³»™s claim to sovereignty and, by extension, its allegiance to Moscow, and have put up fences and demarcation signage in the area.
This latest takeover has annexed a segment of a BP-operated pipeline and is inching toward GeorgiaÂ鶹´«Ã½Ó³»™s main East-West highway.
Stretching from AzerbaijanÂ鶹´«Ã½Ó³»™s Caspian Sea shore to GeorgiaÂ鶹´«Ã½Ó³»™s Black Sea coast, the Western Route Export pipeline has a capacity of 100 000 bbls/yr of oil. It is second in size to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
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