August 24, 2008 (LPAC)--The English-language edition of the Russian Information Agency Novosti web site reports prominently that an unnamed Russian security source has charged that the Georgian attack on South Ossetia was planned more than a year ago. The Georgian operation was coordinated with NATO's plans to strengthen its naval presence in the Black Sea, RIA Novosti's source says, and "The statements of some NATO representatives that the maneuvers of the alliance's ships in the Black Sea were planned a year ago are evidence that attacks on South Ossetia and Abkhazia were planned earlier, maybe even last year."

Novosti continues: "In the opinion of the source, NATO's buildup of naval forces in the Black Sea under the cover of providing humanitarian aid to Georgia, sets a dangerous precedent and may sharply destabilize the situation in the region."