Russia sends forces into South Ossetia

TSKHINVALI , Georgia, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- At least two dozen people were killed in fighting between Russian forces and Georgian military in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, in an interview with CNN, said, "Russia is fighting a war with us on our territory." Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in Beijing for the opening of the Olympic Games, said, "War has started."

Russian officials said they were protecting their citizens in the region when they ordered scores of tanks into South Ossetia, which abuts southern Russia, between the Caspian and Black seas. Georgian forces claimed, so far unverified, to have shot down four Russian jets. Russia denied its jets were flying over South Ossetia.

The Russian military said 10 of its troops were killed and at least 15 civilians were reported dead in the fighting, the BBC reported. Interfax quoted South Ossetian rebel leader Eduard Kokoity as saying hundreds of civilians had been killed in the regional capital of Tskhinvali.

Georgian officials said their original action stemmed from attacks by South Ossetian separtists, whom they claim are armed by Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there had been reports of "ethnic cleansing" in South Ossetia, reports that prompted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to say, "I must protect the life and dignity of Russian citizens wherever they are." Many residents of South Ossetia, while part of Georgia, also have Russian passports.

The Bush administration called for restraint by both Georgian and Russian officials while the European Union and NATO called for a halt to the fighting.