Russian troops dig in for long stay in S.Ossetia

By Dmitry Solovyov

JAVA, Georgia (Reuters) - On a hillside in South Ossetia, Russia has built a garrison of brick and concrete that sends a clear signal to Georgia and the rest of the world that it has no intention of leaving here any time soon.

Two months after Russia and Georgia fought a war, thousands of Russian troops remain inside the two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a force Moscow says is there to keep peace but which Tbilisi calls an occupying army.

With its barracks, canteen and helicopter landing strip, the base near the village of Java represents a powerful symbol of Russia's presence on what Tbilisi and most other countries consider to be Georgian territory.

Igor Konashenkov, aide to the commander of the Russian military's ground forces, said he did not like to call it a base, which in Russian makes it sound temporary.

"It's a garrison," he told reporters on a visit organised by the Russian armed forces this week. "It will hold part of a military group of more than 3,000 people."

Russian troops this week pulled out of security zones adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia in line with a French-brokered ceasefire deal but they have no plans to withdraw from the breakaway regions themselves.

The base sits on a hill between South Ossetia's capital Tskhinvali and the border with Russia. It is designed to accomodate a brigade, or up to 2,000 men, and most of the facilities were built after the war in August.

It is dominated by six single-storey barracks buildings, built out of red brick and with 24 windows along each side. These are all fitted with modern double glazing -- an unusually homely touch by the Spartan standards of Russia's military.