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News Story
06 September 2008 03:24 BST
Russia and Georgia 'at war'
Friday, 08 Aug 2008 19:05
Georgia says it is close to war with Russia after Moscow sends troops into breakaway South Ossetia. Image licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
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Conflict between Georgia and separatists South Ossetia is on the verge of escalating into war after Russia sent troops into the breakaway region.
Moscow's three principal news agencies reported an army convoy had crossed into South Ossetia from Russia.
The development prompted a senior official on Georgia's national security council to tell the Reuters news agency the two countries were "very close" to war.
Russian jets have also attacked a Georgian airbase outside its capital.
Overnight Tbilisi launched a military offensive against South Ossetia, shelling capital Tskhinvali, surrounding it with tanks and conducting jet air strikes.
Georgia's pro-western president Mikhail Saakasvili wants to bring the breakaway region's 80,000 residents back under central control.
But the Kremlin said the deaths of its "countrymen" would be punished.
Earlier Russia's foreign ministry accused Georgia of a "dirty war" according to the RIA Novosti news agency
"Bloodshed in South Ossetia will be on their conscience. We will protect our peacekeepers and citizens of the Russian Federation," a statement said.
Nato, the
Europe
an Union, the US, the UK, the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe have all called on the fighting to be stopped.
Georgia is currently observing a three-hour ceasefire that set up a humanitarian corridor into South Ossetia.
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