Russian troops deep inside Georgian territory are stopping thousands of refugees from returning to their homes, a Georgian official said on Saturday. Russian troops were still manning checkpoints in Georgia and patrolling a Black Sea port even after Moscow pulled back much of the force it deployed to crush Georgia's attempt to take back two separatist provinces. Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minsiter Vladimir Putin launched a fresh attack on the United States, saying US advisers were involved in the Georgian conflict and accused the White House of provoking the crisis to help Republicans win the US election. Russia is fighting back against a storm of condemnation from the United States and European governments for sending troops into Georgia and recognizing its two breakaway regions as independent states. Putin's comments, broadcast by German television station ARD on Friday, expanded on remarks in an interview with CNN shown on Thursday which the White House said were “patently false”. “We know there were a lot of US advisers (in Georgia) ... but instructors, teachers and personnel for military weapons should be on firing ranges and in the teaching centers – but where were they? They were in the zone of military operations,” Putin said. The governor of Gori, a Georgian city occupied by Russian forces during the brief conflict, said Russian soldiers still occupied nearby Georgian villages and preventing residents from returning home. “The Russians have checkpoints and we still cannot bring these people back home. The threat of paramilitary, irregulars, looting and robbing is still very high,” Governor Lado Vardzelashvili said. “Apparently the Russian military are not willing to prevent these kind of cases.” Russia says it is within its rights under a ceasefire to maintain peacekeepers in a buffer zone outside the rebel areas, a point disputed by EU president France which brokered the deal.
