This is breaking news, this post will be updated several times today. Later today a comprehensive summary and analysis will follow.

The small country of Georgia has been invaded by Russia. First Russian warplanes bombed Georgian targets, later Russian tanks rolled over the border.

“All day today, they’ve been bombing Georgia from numerous warplanes and specifically targeting (the) civilian population, and we have scores of wounded and dead among (the) civilian population all around the country,” President Mikhail Saakashvili said.

“This is the worst nightmare one can encounter,” he said.

Asked whether the two countries were now at war with each other, the president replied, “My country is in self-defense against Russian aggression. Russian troops invaded Georgia.”

The two are fighting over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia. There are ethnic Russians living in that region, who are close to Russia (having Russian passports, using Russian money, etc.). South Ossetia wants to be independent, and declared its independence back in 1993. Its ‘independence’ was not internationally recognized, however, and Georgia wants to have none of it.

Russia charges, in the words of the country’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, that “We are receiving reports that a police of ethnic cleansing was being conducted in villages in South Ossetia, the number of refugees is climbing, the panic is growing, people are trying to save their lives.”

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax, said Russians had died because of Georgia’s operations.

Russia “will not allow the deaths of our compatriots to go unpunished” and “those guilty will receive due punishment,” he said. “My duty as Russian president is to safeguard the lives and dignity of Russian citizens, wherever they are. This is what is behind the logic of the steps we are undertaking now.”

 The U.S., NATO and European Union have all called for an end to the fighting. U.S. President George Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday discussed the conflict in Georgia, the White House confirmed.

In a letter addressed to his “fellow citizens” Friday, Saakashvili said he had mobilized tens of thousands of reserve officers and that the mobilization continued.

“We must unite,” Saakashvili wrote. “All of us, hundreds of thousands of Georgians here and abroad, should come together, unite, and fight to save Georgia. We are a freedom-loving people, and if our nation is united, no aggressor will be able to harm it.”…

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer issued a statement Friday saying he was seriously concerned about the recent events in the region, and he called on all sides to end armed clashes and begin direct talks…

Britain and the United States also urged all sides to bring an immediate end to the violence. Acting U.S. State Department spokesman Gonzo Gallegos said: “We support Georgia’s territorial integrity and call for an immediate cease-fire. We urge all parties … to de-escalate and avoid conflict

Russia is not only striking against targets in South Ossetia but also in other Georgian regions. “Clearly they don’t really have boundaries in their activities,” said Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili, in an interview with CNN. She said Russian aircraft had bombed “several villages” in Georgia outside of the South Ossetian territory.

Earlier this evening Georgia’s ‘Cabinet minister said the country’s forces have taken control of the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. He spoke to Interfax news agency, which also quoted separtists denying the city was udner Georgian control.’

Russia’s leaders say that Georgia has acted too aggressively against seperatists, otherwise known as terrorists or militias. Georgia, on the other hand, charges in the words of the country’s president: “These troops that are in Georgia now — they didn’t come unexpectedly. They had been amassing at the border for the last few months. They claimed they were staging exercises there and as soon as a suitable pretext was found, they moved in.”

At this moment, hundreds perhaps thousands of people have been killed in the fighting (Dutch language). Russian forces have now conquered parts of the capital of South Ossetia. Ten Russian troops have died in the fighting, seemingly between Georgian and Russian forces.

Aside from South Ossetia Russian airplanes have bombed the air force base Vaziani