MOSCOW — Russian tanks rumbled into the breakaway Georgian republic of South Ossetia on Friday, and volunteer Russian fighters reportedly made their way over the border, pushing Moscow closer to a full-blown war against U.S.-backed Georgia.
The fighting that erupted among Georgia, Russia and Ossetian rebels over the mountainous sliver of land threatened to provide a battleground for long-simmering tensions between Moscow and the West.
At nightfall, each side was calling in reinforcements and pumping out its own, radically different versions of the day’s events.
An escalation began earlier Friday, when Georgia launched a large-scale, predawn military operation meant to seize control over the rebel region, whose de facto autonomy and ties to Russia have long been an irritant to Georgian leaders. Backed by warplanes, Georgian troops plunged into South Ossetia and waged a hard battle throughout the day for control of the republic’s capital, Tskhinvali.
Officials on both sides reported civilian deaths, although estimates could not be confirmed. South Ossetian officials said that about 1,400 people had been killed, and Georgia announced that 30 people had died in the Russian bombardment.
Each side blamed the other for violating a shaky cease-fire and throwing the republic back into fighting. Both claimed that victory was almost theirs.
Tskhinvali’s status remained unclear late Friday. Both sides, by turns, claimed to have seized control of most of the city. Russian troops reported that many of the buildings had been destroyed and the Parliament building burned to the ground. Aid organizations warned that civilians were hiding in basements without water, electricity or medical help.
The U.N. Security Council called its second emergency session in less than 24 hours in an attempt to prevent war. By Friday evening, diplomats remained unable to reach an agreement on a statement calling for negotiations and an end to violence.
U.S. calls for cease-fire
In Beijing, where President Bush was attending the Olympics, White House press secretary Dana Perino said the United States, which “supports Georgia’s territorial integrity,” was calling for an immediate cease-fire. The Pentagon has about 200 service members in Georgia training units deployed to Iraq, officials said.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, issued a statement calling on the international community to “give Russia the message that invading the territory of a sovereign state and bombing its territory is unacceptable in the 21st century.”
At least 10 Russian soldiers were killed in Friday’s fighting, and dozens more were wounded, Russian officials said. As news of the casualties reached Moscow, infuriated officials vowed retaliation.
“Of course there will be a response,” said Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, speaking on the sidelines of the Olympics in Beijing.
“We will not allow the deaths of our compatriots to go unpunished,” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in Moscow. “Those who are guilty will be duly punished.”
Pitting Russia against U.S.-backed Georgia, the conflict could escalate quickly — and prove difficult to quell. From Chechnya to Abkhazia, Russian-sponsored volunteers were encouraged to join South Ossetia’s fight against Georgia, raising the threat of a war that could engulf the historically bellicose Caucasus.
On Friday night, a military convoy left the Abkhaz capital and headed for South Ossetia to join the battle, Interfax reported.
The region is strategically important for its oil and gas pipelines and has emerged as a sort of post-Cold War proving ground where the United States and Russia jockey for influence.
Georgia is a key player in that contest. A small, mountainous and poor country on Russia’s southern flank, Georgia has deeply distressed Moscow by allying itself with the United States. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has sent thousands of soldiers to fight in Iraq and campaigned for NATO membership.
But Georgia has long been bedeviled by the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Both republics fought bloody wars for de facto independence after the Soviet collapse and have depended upon Moscow for everything from passports to political cover. Russian peacekeeping forces have been stationed in the republics for years.
“It’s clearly very unstable and dangerous,” said Andrei Kotunov, president of the New Eurasia Foundation in Moscow. “I don’t think we’ll be able to get back to square one. This has already created something that is not going to fade away easily, this resentment and hostility.”
