Russia sends in more troops as Georgian crisis escalates

South Ossetia: Russia's military says it is sending reinforcements into South Ossetia, the breakaway region of Georgia, today as reports put the number of feared dead at 1400.

The latest announcement upped the stakes in a stand-off between Russia and the pro-Western Georgian leadership that has sparked alarm in the West.

With Washington the main backer of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, the US State Department called in a top Russian diplomat to urge Moscow to halt military involvement in the conflict that erupted in earnest on Thursday night.

In South Ossetia itself, Russian media reported shelling of the regional capital, Tskhinvali last night.

Each side blamed the other for the outbreak of fighting in the pro-Moscow enclave, which broke from Georgia as the Soviet Union neared collapse in the early 1990s. Separatist rebels, who have enjoyed de facto independence from Georgia for over 15 years, want to unite with North Ossetia, part of Russia.

The president of the separatist region, Eduard Kokoity, claimed 1400 people had died.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today said Russian forces had a mission to protect civilians in South Ossetia, many of whom hold Russian passports.