As night fell over Tskhinvali, Georgian officials in Tbilisi and troops in South Ossetia braced for a Russian riposte. There were some early indications that the Kremlin might not limit its response to Ossetia. For example, the Rustavi-2 television station in Georgia reported late August 8 that jets coming from the direction of Armenia bombed a site in the southwestern Georgian hamlet of Bolnisi, not far from the borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Such reports are especially ominous, given that they portend a widening of the fighting. US President George W. Bush conferred with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Beijing on August 8. “We urge restraint on all sides — that violence would be curtailed and that direct dialogue could ensue in order to help resolve their differences,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav080808a.shtml

http://theglobalbuzz.typepad.com/the_global_buzz/2008/08/azerbaijan-tryi.html

Azerbaijan trying to point fingers at Armenia

Interesting little development in today’s war in the Caucasus: The Azerbaijan Press Agency (APA) is citing a report from Gruziya Online that the Russian fighter jets that bombed Georgia’s Vaziani Air Base took off from Armenia. The APA, which is not state-owned, might have an interest in seeing Armenia involved in this conflict because that might give Azerbaijan a legitimate casus belli to attack its post-Cold War enemy and attempt to reclaim Nagorno-Karabakh. I tried to gain access to the Gruziya Novosti website to see the report firsthand, but most .ge websites have been very slow to upload. This morning they were uploading fine; this afternoon no such luck. I do wonder if Russia is directing its well-known cyber-warfare prowess on Georgia right now and crashing its servers that host most of the .ge websites.

The fog of war will only make this situation more complicated as the hours wear on.

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=86442
Russian aircraft bombing Tbilisi took off from Armenia -
[ 08 Aug 2008 18:12 ]

Moscow – APA. Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed that additional forces had been sent to support peacekeepers in Georgia-Ossetia conflict zone, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.

The ministry said necessary assistance would be offered to the Russian peacekeepers and citizens of unrecognized republic. North Caucasus military district said that Russian combat equipment entered Tskhinvali. Georgian new agencies report that Russian military aircrafts bombed Vaziani base near Tbilisi at 15.10 by local time. Two bombs were reportedly dropped on the military base. No casualties are reported in the base. Gruziya Online website reports that the aircraft that bombed Vaziani base had taken off from the territory of Armenia. The agency mentions that there is an air regiment in Russian army’s 102nd base in Gumru, Armenia. According to the agreement signed between Georgia and Armenia, Armenia can not allow any other state to attack Georgia from its territory.

U.S. President George Bush met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Beijing and called on the parties to cease the fire in Georgia-Ossetia conflict zone immediately. European Union and OSCE released analogous messages.

South Ossetian capital mostly destroyed

08.08.2008 17:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Commander of combined peacekeeping forces, major general Marat Kulakhmetov said that South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, has been nearly destroyed.

“Gunfire has been suspended. Tskhinvali is enveloped in fires,” Interfax’s correspondent reported from the site.

Meanwhile, according to some sources, Russian armored vehicles entered the city.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said 150 Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers entered South Ossetia.

http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=26844