Georgia fighting goes on despite Russia's pledge
Fighting continued tonight between Russia and Georgia with thousands dead or fleeing their homes and towns left smouldering ruins despite a cease-fire declaration.
Both sides accused the other of carrying out attacks as the battlefield clashes were matched by a diplomatic war of words.
Russia officially called a halt to military action in Georgia five days after moving in to the breakaway province of South Ossieta following Georgian attacks there.
But it insisted its troops would remain in South Ossieta and the second separatist region of Abkhazia as peacekeeping forces and that they should both be allowed to decide their own futures.
Georgia responded by declaring it would officially designate the troops as occupying forces.
Hours before the Russian cease-fire announcement its planes bombed the crossroads city of Gori and troops launched an offensive in the part of Abkhazia still under Georgian control.
In central Georgia the town of Gori was all but deserted, most remaining residents and Georgian soldiers having fled ahead of a feared Russian onslaught.
More than 2,000 people were reported killed and the death toll was expected to rise.
Tens of thousands of terrified residents have fled the fighting – South Ossetians north to Russia, and Georgians west toward the capital of Tbilisi and the country’s Black Sea coast.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Georgia had been punished enough for its attack on South Ossetia.
“The aggressor has been punished and suffered very significant losses. Its military has been disorganised," he said.
But he told his troops: “If there are any emerging hotbeds of resistance or any aggressive actions, you should take steps to destroy them.”
Russia’s foreign minister called for Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to resign and Mr Medvedev said Georgia must pull its troops from South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
But thousands of Georgians poured out their support for their president at a rally in the capital Tbilisi, crowding a main square and nearby streets and holding red-and-white Georgian flags.
Russian forces opened a second battlefront in western Georgia yesterday moving deep into Georgian territory from Abkhazia. They seized a military base in the town of Senaki and occupied police precincts in the town of Zugdidi.
Fighting appeared to be continuing there today with Russian armour heading towards the Kodori Gorge area, the northern part of which was still held by Georgian forces.
In central Georgia, Russian troops had advanced into Georgia from South Ossetia, taking positions near Gori on the main east-west route through the country prompting Mr Saakashvili to say his country had effectively been cut in half.
The situation in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, remained tense today as sporadic fighting and artillery duels continued, but the city was in the control of Russian army and South Ossetian forces.
In the villages once populated by ethnic Georgians on the outskirts of Tskhinvali, South Ossetian fighters reportedly set fire to houses and carried out searches in the villages.
As he started talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Mr Medvedev said Georgia must pull its troops from the breakaway regions and pledge not to use force again to solve the conflict.
The UN and Nato had called meetings today to deal with the conflict, which quickly developed into an East-West crisis that raised fears in former Soviet bloc nations of Eastern Europe.
Poland’s president and the leaders of four ex-Soviet republics headed to Georgia to meet Mr Saakashvili as a signal of solidarity with Tbilisi.
“We may say that the Russian state has once again shown its face, its true face,” said Poland’s Lech Kaczynski, who will be joined by counterparts from Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine and Latvia.
