.Cease ..fire!
RUSSIA continued its airstrikes on battered Georgia last night despite seizing control of disputed South Ossetia.
Georgia called for a ceasefire as its blitzed armies fell into retreat — and said it was ready for urgent talks on a “termination of hostilities”.
But as Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili waited for a reply, Russian forces continued to bombard the area — before taking command of it completely.
Georgia said 6,000 Russian troops had rolled in from the neighbouring Russian province of North Ossetia.
South Ossetia capital Tskhinvali was said to be razed to the ground. And in a dramatic escalation, a Russian naval squadron SANK a Georgian missile boat in the Black Sea while its warplanes BOMBED the oil port of Poti and TARGETED Georgia’s international airport in capital Tbilisi.
Meanwhile a group of Russian tanks attempted to penetrate deeper into Georgia but were repelled near the city of Gori. The total death toll was feared to top 2,000 with up to 50,000 people forced to flee.
Mr Saakashvili fears the Kremlin wants to swallow up his US-backed country.
He said: “They want the whole of Georgia. The Russians need control over energy routes from central Asia and the Caspian Sea.
In addition, they want to get rid of us, they want regime change. Every democratic movement in this region must be got rid of.”
Mr Saakashvili said US President George Bush “understands it’s not really about Georgia but in a certain sense it’s also an aggression against America”.
Georgian envoy Irakli Alasania warned the United Nations Security Council, meeting for the fourth time in as many days, that Moscow plans to “erase Georgian statehood and exterminate the Georgian people”.
He also accused Russia of hampering the Georgian withdrawal to prolong the bloody conflict.
Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin hit back by claiming Georgia was waging “genocide against South Ossetians”.
He said: “Let’s state clearly that we are ready to put an end to the war, that we will withdraw from South Ossetia, that we will sign an agreement on non-use of force.” But attacks continued as he spoke.
The swoop on Tbilisi’s airport came shortly after 7pm local time, just 30 minutes before the arrival of a French and Finnish peacemaking team.
Their aircraft was allowed to land after the bombing raid failed. A military airport two miles away was hit.
US deputy national security adviser Jim Jeffrey said: “We deplore the dangerous and disproportionate actions by Russian forces.”
He added that the US would be “very, very concerned” if Russia marched on Georgia.
Mr Bush has spoken to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev. He plans to talk with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently heads the EU.
Mr Sarkozy is set to fly to Russia to help broker a peace deal. A spokesman said that since the Georgian withdrawal “the President believes that there now exists a real chance of quickly finding a way out of the crisis”.
But Mr Putin said Georgia had lost the right to rule the breakaway province — an indication Moscow could be ready to absorb it.
A Downing Street spokesman said PM Gordon Brown had held “detailed discussions” with Mr Sarkozy and had spoken to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
The Foreign Office believe there are around 200 Britons living in Georgia and advised all Brits to leave. It was not known if any were among the dead or injured.
The Sun saw carnage in Gori after Russian bombs aimed at a police HQ fell 300 yards short — destroying a row of stone cottages and killing eight civilians, including a boy aged three.
Despite the threat of more raids, a dozen men refused to leave. Emzar Sakhvadze, 33, said: “We cannot go until we have given them proper burials.”
Gori, with a population of 50,000, is 20 miles from Tskhinvali and became a fall-back position for Georgian troops.
senior Georgian official said fierce fighting had seen 50 ambulances ferrying wounded Georgian soldiers from the city’s military hospital to Tbilisi.
But Kakha Lomaia declared proudly: “Our troops are fighting, still fighting. They are not letting Russian troops in.”
Meanwhile thousands of civilians fled the city in wheezing minibuses, heading for Tbilisi where they hope to be safe.
However, tensions were spilling outwards. The Ukraine — where many Russian ships are based and, like Georgia, friendly to the West — threatened to block the Russian navy from returning. And Georgia claimed more than 4,000 Russian troops have moved into the larger disputed region of Abkhazia and lined up in the Kodori Gorge.
Russian-backed separatists yesterday launched air and artillery strikes while others were concentrating on the border near Georgia’s Zugdidi region.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed fears the conflict was spreading and said Britain was ready to send humanitarian aid.
The Sun
Georgia called for a ceasefire as its blitzed armies fell into retreat — and said it was ready for urgent talks on a “termination of hostilities”.
But as Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili waited for a reply, Russian forces continued to bombard the area — before taking command of it completely.
Georgia said 6,000 Russian troops had rolled in from the neighbouring Russian province of North Ossetia.
South Ossetia capital Tskhinvali was said to be razed to the ground. And in a dramatic escalation, a Russian naval squadron SANK a Georgian missile boat in the Black Sea while its warplanes BOMBED the oil port of Poti and TARGETED Georgia’s international airport in capital Tbilisi.
Meanwhile a group of Russian tanks attempted to penetrate deeper into Georgia but were repelled near the city of Gori. The total death toll was feared to top 2,000 with up to 50,000 people forced to flee.
Mr Saakashvili fears the Kremlin wants to swallow up his US-backed country.
He said: “They want the whole of Georgia. The Russians need control over energy routes from central Asia and the Caspian Sea.
In addition, they want to get rid of us, they want regime change. Every democratic movement in this region must be got rid of.”
Mr Saakashvili said US President George Bush “understands it’s not really about Georgia but in a certain sense it’s also an aggression against America”.
Georgian envoy Irakli Alasania warned the United Nations Security Council, meeting for the fourth time in as many days, that Moscow plans to “erase Georgian statehood and exterminate the Georgian people”.
He also accused Russia of hampering the Georgian withdrawal to prolong the bloody conflict.
Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin hit back by claiming Georgia was waging “genocide against South Ossetians”.
He said: “Let’s state clearly that we are ready to put an end to the war, that we will withdraw from South Ossetia, that we will sign an agreement on non-use of force.” But attacks continued as he spoke.
The swoop on Tbilisi’s airport came shortly after 7pm local time, just 30 minutes before the arrival of a French and Finnish peacemaking team.
Their aircraft was allowed to land after the bombing raid failed. A military airport two miles away was hit.
US deputy national security adviser Jim Jeffrey said: “We deplore the dangerous and disproportionate actions by Russian forces.”
He added that the US would be “very, very concerned” if Russia marched on Georgia.
Mr Bush has spoken to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev. He plans to talk with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently heads the EU.
Mr Sarkozy is set to fly to Russia to help broker a peace deal. A spokesman said that since the Georgian withdrawal “the President believes that there now exists a real chance of quickly finding a way out of the crisis”.
But Mr Putin said Georgia had lost the right to rule the breakaway province — an indication Moscow could be ready to absorb it.
A Downing Street spokesman said PM Gordon Brown had held “detailed discussions” with Mr Sarkozy and had spoken to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
The Foreign Office believe there are around 200 Britons living in Georgia and advised all Brits to leave. It was not known if any were among the dead or injured.
The Sun saw carnage in Gori after Russian bombs aimed at a police HQ fell 300 yards short — destroying a row of stone cottages and killing eight civilians, including a boy aged three.
Despite the threat of more raids, a dozen men refused to leave. Emzar Sakhvadze, 33, said: “We cannot go until we have given them proper burials.”
Gori, with a population of 50,000, is 20 miles from Tskhinvali and became a fall-back position for Georgian troops.
senior Georgian official said fierce fighting had seen 50 ambulances ferrying wounded Georgian soldiers from the city’s military hospital to Tbilisi.
But Kakha Lomaia declared proudly: “Our troops are fighting, still fighting. They are not letting Russian troops in.”
Meanwhile thousands of civilians fled the city in wheezing minibuses, heading for Tbilisi where they hope to be safe.
However, tensions were spilling outwards. The Ukraine — where many Russian ships are based and, like Georgia, friendly to the West — threatened to block the Russian navy from returning. And Georgia claimed more than 4,000 Russian troops have moved into the larger disputed region of Abkhazia and lined up in the Kodori Gorge.
Russian-backed separatists yesterday launched air and artillery strikes while others were concentrating on the border near Georgia’s Zugdidi region.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed fears the conflict was spreading and said Britain was ready to send humanitarian aid.
The Sun
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