19:08 GMT - President Dmitry Medvedev says: “Russia is taking adequate military and political measures to put an end to violence in South Ossetia.”

18:56 GMT - The breakaway region’s government says Tskhinvali is fully under South Ossetian control, but fighting over one of the city's districts is continuing.

18:36 GMT - Russian Emergencies Ministry plane has taken off from Moscow region. It will deliver an airmobile hospital to North Ossetia to help refugees from the bordering region of South Ossetia.

18:31 GMT - South Ossetian armed units deployed near Tskhinvali have started firing at Georgian military positions, according to Georgian media.

17:48 GMT – Georgia admits up to 30 causalities on its side during the offensive.

17:35 GMT – Saakashvili claims Georgia ‘controls Tskhinvali and most of South Ossetian villages and regions’ in a televised address.

17:22 GMT – Hundreds of volunteers enter South Ossetia from Russian territory.

17:20 GMT – South Ossetia call on the world to ‘stop genocide’ in the region and recognise its independence.

17:03 GMT – Ossetian leader Kokoyti says 1,400 people were killed in Friday conflict.

16:55 GMT – Georgia withdraws half of its troops from Iraq.

16:46 GMT – Thousands of people flee from South Ossetia after violence. Most or the refugees are sheltered by their relatives in North Ossetia.

16:32 GMT – Abkhazian troops will march on towards border with Georgia regardless the development of the situation in South Ossetia.

16:14 GMT – Russian Air Forces deny bombing Georgian military base.

15:50 GMT – Russian troops will suppress any fire from Georgian forces aimed at South Ossetia, warns Russia’s Defence Ministry.

15:14 GMT – Russia bans flights to and from Georgia, starting at midnight on Friday.

15:03 GMT – UN Security council to discuss the situation in South Ossetia on Friday night at 19:00 GMT.

14:52 GMT - Shootings cease in Tskhivali as people check damages.

14:35 GMT – Ossetian authorities report more then a thousand dead in Tskhinvali.

14:23 GMT – Mass fires reported in Tskhinvali.

1410 GMT – South Ossetian President Kokoyti announces the breakaway republic’s troops are driving Georgian forces away.

14:05 GMT – Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Tskhinvali, according to South Ossetian President Kokoyti.

14:01 GMT – Georgian Foreign Ministry calls on the world community to make Russia ‘understand, that invading a sovereign state is unacceptable’.

13:43 GMT – President Medvedev orders Prime Minister, Emergencies Minister and Interior Minister to organise humanitarian aid for South Ossetia.

13:25 GMT – Russian Defence Ministry accuses Georgian troops of shooting at peacekeepers and civilians and denying them medical help.

13:21 GMT – Russian Defence Ministry confirms more then 10 Russian peacekeepers have been killed in South Ossetia on Friday and 30 others wounded.

13:16 GMT – Saakashvili accuses Russia of ‘waging a war’ against Georgia, asks for U.S. support.

12:57 GMT – International community must stop turning a blind eye on mass arms purchases by Georgia, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

12:55 GMT – Russian FM Sergey Lavrov accuses Georgia of ethnical cleansing in Ossetian villages.

12:37 GMT – "If Russia indeed sent its troops to Georgian territory, it means we are at war with Russia," said head of Georgian national security council.

12:34 GMT – Russian envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin calls on the alliance’s member states not to support Saakashvili.

12:31 GMT – Georgian Parliament speaker David Bargadze accuses Russia of ‘military aggression’, and threatens to use ‘all means necessary to protect the country’s sovereignty’.

12:22 GMT – Germany’s leader Angela Merkel calls for an immediate end to the use of force.

12:19 GMT – Tskhinvali residents emerge from shelters after a lull in fighting, report Ossetian peacekeepers. The city is short of water and electricity has been cut in many areas. Telephone communications are difficult.

12:13 GMT – Georgia accuses Russia of bombing its military base near Tbilisi.

12:04 GMT – Russia’s Defence Ministry announces it has sent peacekeeping reinforcements to South Ossetia

11:57 GMT – Peacekeepers report South Ossetians destroy several Georgian tanks, re-take Tskhinvali.

11:41 GMT – Russian communists and liberal democrats call for State Duma meeting to discuss the situation in South Ossetia.

11:33 GMT – South Ossetia reports that Russian armoured vehicles have entered Tskhinvali.

11:25 GMT – Tskhinvali ‘completely destroyed’ after massive shelling by Gerogian troops, reports head of peacekeeping force.

11:17 GMT – Georgia gives South Ossetians three hours to surrender.

11:12 GMT – International Red Cross Committee is ‘deeply concerned’ with the humanitarian situation in South Ossetia.

11:02 GMT – PACE will support any effort to resolve the conflict in South Ossetia peacefully.

10:59 GMT – South Ossetia accuses Georgian hackers of attacking its Information Ministry’s website.

10:58 GMT – Russia will not allow the death of its citizens go unpunished, says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

10:56 GMT – Wounded people from South Ossetia start arriving to North Ossetian hospitals.

10:45 GMT – Keeping volunteers away from South Ossetia ‘will be difficult’, says Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who’s visiting China for the opening of the Olympics

10:33 GMT – Georgia announces a three-hour ceasefire starting from 11:00 GMT to let civilians out of the conflict zone.

10:26 GMT – Transdniester may allow volunteers to fight in South Ossetia, says region’s Foreign Ministry.

10:23 GMT – Peacekeepers ask Abkhazia not to send  its troops into the demilitarized zone.

09:53 GMT – British Foreign Office calls on the two sides to stop military actions and resume negotiations.

09:36 GMT – Georgia’s aggression gives the Russian Parliament a ‘serious reason’ to recognise South Ossetia’s independence, says chair of Federation Council Sergey Mironov.

09:21 GMT – NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer calls for an immediate to violence in South Ossetia.

09:05 GMT – Russian Defence Ministry says it won’t let Georgia harm peacekeepers and Russian citizens.

08:32 GMT – The European Commission’s head of foreign policy tells Mikhail Saakashvili to do everything necessary to stop violence in South Ossetia.

08:18 GMT – Firefight spreads to Tskhinvali streets, reports head of peacekeeping force.

07:49 GMT –Emergencies Ministry ready to evacuate Russian citizens from South Ossetia if ordered to.

07:44 GMT – Abkhazian forces move to border with Georgia and concentrate near the demilitarised zone.

07:44 GMT – Mikhail Saakasvili says Russia has launched a full-scale military operation against Georgia.

07:20 GMT – Georgian Minister of Reintegration asks the international community to stop putting pressure on Tbilisi and help find a compromise.

07:02 GMT – Russian Migration Service ready to deal with refugees from South Ossetia.

06:51 GMT – UN Security Council fails to approve a Russia-sponsored ceasefire call.

06:17 GMT – Firefight intensifies at Tskhinvali outskirts, says South Ossetian President Kokoyti.

05:57 GMT – Georgia pledges to pardon South Ossetian leadership and invest $US 35 million into the region

05:28 GMT – North Ossetia prepares for the arrival of more than 2,000 refugees

05:01 GMT – South Ossetia asks Russia for protection and to help it stop the bloodshed

04:13 GMT – Georgian troops resume attack on the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali.