From BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7550354.stm
Russian forces battle Georgians
Footage reportedly shows Russian tanks entering South
Ossetia
Russian forces are locked in fierce clashes with Georgia inside
its breakaway South Ossetia region, reports say, amid fears of
all-out war.
Moscow sent armoured units across the border after Georgia moved
against Russian-backed separatists.
Russia says 12 of its soldiers are dead, and separatists
estimate that 1,400 civilians have died.
Georgia accuses Russia of waging war, and says it has suffered
heavy losses in bombing raids, which Russia denies.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili says he is willing to
agree an immediate ceasefire
Russian tanks have reportedly reached the northern suburbs of the
regional capital, Tskhinvali, and there were conflicting claims
about who was in control of the city.
"Now our peacekeepers are waging a fierce battle with regular
forces from the Georgian army in the southern region of
Tskhinvali," a Russian military official was quoted as saying by
Moscow-based news agency, Interfax.
After days of exchanging heavy fire with the separatists,
Georgian forces moved on Thursday night to regain control of the
region, which has had de facto independence since a war against
Georgia that ended in 1992.
I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings,
in cars. It's impossible to count them now
Lyudmila Ostayeva
Tskhinvali resident
In pictures: Unrest in Georgia
Bitterness turns to conflict
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Russia was at war
with his country.
He told the BBC: "Our troops are attacked by thousands of troops
coming in from Russia."
Mr Saakashvili said Georgia had shot down several Russian planes
and accused Moscow of bombing Georgian air bases and towns,
resulting in the death of 30 military personnel and civilians.
Late on Friday, the Georgian national security council said Mr
Saakashvili was poised to declare a state of emergency.
Despite denials from Moscow, the Russian air force has been
carrying out air raids in South Ossetia and Georgia itself, says
the BBC's Richard Galpin, in Gori, eastern Georgia.
