Commander of combined peacekeeping forces, major general Marat Kulakhmetov said that South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, has been nearly destroyed.

"Gunfire has been suspended. Tskhinvali is enveloped in fires," Interfax's correspondent reported from the site.

Meanwhile, according to some sources, Russian armored vehicles entered the city.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said 150 Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers entered South Ossetia.