Georgia: Russians Attack Gori, Take Tskhinvali

The BBC reports that Russian jets have hit mainly military targets in the Georgian town of Gori. However, a number of civilians are also reported to have died in nearby residential apartments. Meanwhile, Russian paratroopers have reportedly taken Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

The Russian defence ministry confirmed two of its jets had been shot down over Georgia, although it did not say where.

In a live televised address, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said he would ask parliament to approve the introduction of martial law.

[…]

[…] the Russian Army’s Ground Forces commander, Gen Vladimir Boldyrev, told Russian media that his troops had retaken the city from Georgian forces.

“Tactical groups have fully liberated Tskhinvali from the Georgian military and have started pushing Georgian units beyond the zone of peacekeepers’ responsibility,” he said, after paratroopers were airlifted into the city.

Georgia said Russia had also launched air strikes on targets inside its territory, in what it described as “a full-scale military invasion”.

The BBC also carries eyewitness accounts of the raid on Gori.

We saw the impact of the air strikes - buildings on fire. We’ve also seen that the Russians missed their targets at least once - they hit a residential apartment block. Two buildings are on fire, with civilians inside. We were told a number of people were killed and injured. We saw at least one man pulled out dead.

[…]

There are scenes of panic in the town. Large numbers of troops are also searching for shelter. Soldiers have been seen running through the streets and civilians fleeing for safety. There are also large plumes of smoke rising above Gori.

All night we’ve seen a very large number of Georgian troops pour into this town. Some of them are reservists, which means there is mass mobilisation going on in this country.

Georgia is at war with Russia.