One hundred and fifty Russian tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles have entered South Ossetia to back the breakaway region against a military onsalught by Georgia. The separatist region has been under heavy atack from Georgian forces since a brief ceasefire on Thursday night.The Georgian military say it has "liberated" the area, while some sources say Russian troops are on the verge of entering the region's capital city. Russia's three main news agencies confirmed the Russian military convoy had entered South Ossetia on Friday, quoting witnesses.
Georgia's national security council warned that Moscow and Tbilisi would be in "a state of war" over Russia's deployment.
Moscow is the main backer of Georgian separatists in the two enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and has a "peacekeeping force" stationed in the region.
The Russian defence ministry said on Friday that ten of its peacekeepers had been killed and 30 injured in the fighting. Russia's Interfax news agency reported that Eduard Kokoity, the South Ossetian separatist leader, had said that hundreds of civilians had been killed in the fighting.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said "ethnic cleansing" had been reported in villages in South Ossetia. He said: "We have heard about ethnic cleansing in villages in South Ossetia. The number of refugees is growing. A humanitarian crisis is looming."