Russia, Georgia seen escalating conflict to full-scale war

A Georgian woman yesterday passed by a building hit by bombardments in Gori. A Georgian government spokesman said that 60 civilians had been killed in airstrikes on the city. (Dimitar Dilkoff/ AFP/ Getty Images)

GORI, Georgia - The conflict between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia moved toward full-scale war yesterday, as Russia sent warships to land ground troops in the disputed territory of Abkhazia and broadened its bombing campaign across Georgia.

The fighting, which sharply escalated when Georgian forces tried to retake the capital of South Ossetia, a pro-Russian region that won de facto autonomy from Georgia in the early 1990s, appeared to be developing into the worst clash between Russia and a foreign military since the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

As Russia moved more forces into the region and continued aerial bombing, its forces appeared determined to occupy both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both Moscow-backed breakaway regions where Russia had issued passports to most residents and declared them Russian citizens.

Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, said Russia's ambitions were even more extensive. He declared that Georgia was in a state of war, and said in an interview that Russia was planning to seize seaports and an oil pipeline, and to overthrow his government.

Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia left the Olympics in China and arrived last night in Vladikavkaz, a city in southern Russia just over the border. State-controlled news broadcasts showed Putin meeting generals, suggesting that he was directly in charge of military operations, eclipsing the authority of President Dmitri A. Medvedev.

Putin said that dozens of people had been killed in South Ossetia and hundreds wounded, and tens of thousands were reported to be fleeing. Georgia's health minister said that more than 80 people had been killed, including 40 civilians who died in airstrikes in Gori, a city north of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Another Georgian official said at least 800 people, almost all of them civilians, had been injured. Each side's figures were impossible to confirm independently.

The fighting, and the Kremlin's confidence in the face of Western outcry, had wide international implications, as both Russian and Georgian officials placed it squarely in the context of renewed Cold War-style tensions and an East-West struggle for regional influence.

Western influence over Russia appeared minimal. The East and West were stuck in diplomatic impasse, even as reports of heavy civilian casualties indicated that the humanitarian toll was climbing. The UN Security Council was meeting yesterday to discuss the crisis, but came to no resolution.

Georgian officials said their only way out of the conflict was for the United States to step in, but with American military intervention unlikely, they were hoping for the West to exert diplomatic pressure to stop the Russian attacks. "Georgia is a sovereign nation, and its territorial integrity must be respected," President Bush said at the Olympics in Beijing. "We have urged an immediate halt to the violence and a stand-down by all troops. We call for the end of the Russian bombings."

Senior European Union officials were adamant yesterday that both Russia and Georgia were to blame for the recent escalation of the conflict, and that finger-pointing was counterproductive. Cristina Gallack, a spokeswoman for Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said that the EU's immediate objective was to reach a cease-fire, and European envoys were reported to be en route to the region.

Western officials monitored the movements with alarm. "The record is crystal-clear," said a Western official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Russia has launched a full-scale military operation, on air, land, and sea. We have entered a totally new realm - politically, legally, and diplomatically."

Russia appeared to be opening a second front in Abkhazia, to the west of South Ossetia, and to be aiming to drive Georgian troops from the Kodori Gorge, a small mountainous area in Abkhazia that Georgia reclaimed by force in 2006. Georgian officials said 12 Russian jets were bombing the area, shortly after a Western official said UN peacekeepers had withdrawn from the area at the request of Abkhazia's de facto government.

Russia also notified Western governments that it was moving ships of its Black Sea fleet to Ochamchire, a port on the Abkhaz coast. Georgian officials said they expected Russian troops to land there.

Putin made clear that Russia now viewed Georgian claims over the breakaway regions to be invalid, and that Russia had no intention of withdrawing. "There is almost no way we can imagine a return to the status quo," he said in remarks on Russian state television.

Saakashvili, the Georgian president, said Russia's oil riches and desire to assert economic leverage over Europe and the West had emboldened the country to attack. Georgia is a transit country for oil and natural gas exports from the former Soviet Union that threatens Russia's near monopoly.

"They need control of energy routes," Saakashvili said. "They need seaports. They need transportation infrastructure. And primarily, they want to get rid of us."

In turn, Russian officials said that ties to the United States had emboldened Saakashvili, who wants to make Georgia part of NATO, into sparking the conflict. But there were signs that Saakashvili was feeling the limits of how much US help he could expect.

Pentagon officials said late on Friday that Georgia had requested assistance in airlifting home the approximately 2,000 Georgian troops now in Iraq. The request was under review, and standard procedures would indicate that the US government would honor the request, officials said.

In China, Bush discussed the fighting with Putin during a social lunch at the Great Hall of the People on Friday and again later that evening at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. The White House did not disclose the details of what they said.

The fighting, and the Kremlin's confidence in the face of Western outcry, had wide international implications, as both Russian and Georgian officials placed it squarely in the context of renewed Cold War-style tensions and an East-West struggle for influence on Russia's borders. The East and West were stuck in diplomatic impasse, even as reports from both sides of heavy civilian casualties indicated that the humanitarian toll was climbing.

Georgian officials said their only way out of the conflict was for the United States to step in, but with US military intervention unlikely, they were hoping for the West to exert diplomatic pressure to stop the Russian attacks. The UN Security Council was meeting yesterday to discuss the crisis.

Civilians came under fire on both sides. Georgian troops shelled the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, with heavy artillery. Russian warplanes struck at least five Georgian cities. Witnesses said they struck a train station in Tsenakhi, two apartment buildings in Gori, and a port area in the Black Sea city of Poti. Each side said it was acting in self-defense.

President Medvedev said Russia was acting to restore peace in the Caucasus and protect its citizens and peacekeeping troops who had come under Georgian attack in South Ossetia.

Russian officials said that strong ties to the United States had emboldened Saakashvili, who wants to make Georgia part of NATO, into sparking the conflict by trying to seize back South Ossetia. But there were signs that Saakashvili was feeling the limits of how much American help he could expect after signing up as an ally in Iraq.

Alexander Lomaya, secretary of Georgia's National Security Council, said only Western intervention could prevent all-out war. "We still believe that a unified and consolidated Western pressure and Western opinion can bring some fruit."

Georgian officials acknowledged they were taken by surprise by the intensity of the Russian response. "What we didn't expect was that Russian troops themselves would enter Georgia, that Russian military equipment would bomb our cities in various parts of the country, that Russian soldiers would be shelling villages and positions of Georgian forces," Lomaya said.

But Russia, too, found itself facing effective resistance from Georgia's antiaircraft guns. A close ally of Saakashvili's, Gigo Bokaria, a member of Georgia's parliament, said Georgia was shifting its tactics to focus on air defenses.