Russian forces widened their assault Monday on Georgia with a new offensive near the western Black Sea coast, sparking US President George W Bush's condemnation of Kremlin actions as a "dramatic and brutal escalation" apparently meant to oust the Georgian government.
"It now appears that an effort may be underway to depose ( Georgia's) duly elected government," Bush said at the White House shortly after returning from the Olympics in Beijing.
Bush said there was evidence that Russia intends to bomb the civilian airport near the Georgian capital Tbilisi, as Moscow continues its attack on Georgian targets beyond South Ossetia, the breakaway province where the conflict erupted last week.
"I am deeply concerned by reports that Russian troops have moved beyond the zone of conflict," Bush said.
Bush said that Russia's military campaign has diminished Moscow's own global standing, and he called on Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to immediately agree to a ceasefire.
Military action continued at locations across Georgia throughout Monday, despite a "unilateral ceasefire" declared by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili shortly after midnight.
At a meeting of Georgian security officials Monday evening, Saakashvili said that Russian troops were continuing to advance into Georgian territory.
"This is an attempt to fully conquer Georgia and to destroy it," Georgian media quoted Saakashvili as saying.
In an appeal for help, Saakashvili said the international community "must stop this barbaric aggressor."
Reports citing the Tbilisi government said that Georgian security forces were retreating in a bid to protect the capital from falling to the Russian Army.
On Monday afternoon, following airstrikes, Russian armoured columns rolled into Georgia's Zugdidi district, marking the first move by Russian ground forces into territory controlled by Georgia.
Russia landed 9,000 naval infantry and 350 tanks and armoured personnel carriers in Abkhazia, another Georgian separatist province on the Black Sea.
Infantry combat and Russian airstrikes continued in the remote Kodori gorge region, a district north of Zugdidi and claimed by both Georgia and Abkhazia.
The Russian Air Force intensified bombing Monday, with Georgia's Defence Ministry reporting more than 50 Russian bombers operating in Georgian airspace.
Among targets struck by Russian aircraft were an air traffic control terminal near Tbilisi and other military bases including its oil-shipping port of Poti on the Black Sea, hit now for the third time since last week.
Monday saw the war's first naval action, with Russian warships firing on four Georgian missile boats attempting to exit Poti, sinking one and forcing the other three to turn back.
Russian troops in South Ossetia had full control Monday of the provincial capital Tskhinvali, and military officials said they had "no intention" of moving Russian troops from South Ossetia.
The Kremlin has named as conditions for an end to the Russian offensive the "unconditional withdrawal" of Georgian fighters from South Ossetia and Tbilisi's commitment to the non-use of force in the region. Asked by reporters why Russia had not reacted to Georgia's call for a ceasefire, the Russian general responded, "We haven't received any documents on that yet."
Russian President Medvedev described Georgian military operations in South Ossetia as "genocide," Interfax reported.
"They were on a mass scale and were directed against individuals," he was quoted as saying.
Georgia's Saakashvili in a nationwide television address said that he "wanted peace ... but (I am) willing to fight to the last drop of blood."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy planned to fly Tuesday to Moscow and Tbilisi.
Monday in Tbilisi, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner handed the Georgian government a three-phase plan to end the fighting. Saakashvili signed the agreement, and Kouchner's team was to fly the document to Moscow, according to Georgian news reports.
The United Nations Security Council in New York was holding another round of discussions late Monday on the conflict.
A US military C5 cargo jet arrived in Tbilisi from Iraq with members of Georgia's 13th Infantry battalion, considered Georgia's most elite fighting unit with desert combat experience and US training.
In the Polish capital Warsaw, about 300 people gathered outside the Russian embassy Monday to show support for Georgia. Demonstrators carried signs like "Hands off Georgia" and "Out with Russian imperialism."
Russian military casualties since Thursday's outbreak of fighting was 16 dead and some 100 wounded, a Russian 58th Army spokesman said.
Georgian military casualties as of Monday were some 90 dead and 500 wounded, according to the latest Georgian Army estimates.
Confirmed civilian dead are in excess of 200, and may exceed 1,600, according to unconfirmed reports.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, released 2 million dollars Monday to provide humanitarian support to people displaced by the fighting.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said the first flight carrying 20,000 blankets and other relief supplies was due to arrive Tuesday from Dubai, where the agency has a warehouse. A second flight will leave Copenhagen on Wednesday for the Caucasus.
The two flights will carry enough relief supplies for at least 30,000 people reported to have fled South Ossetia.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is to fly 15 tonnes of medicines and medical supplies this week to Georgia, as well as water tanks capable of storing safe drinking water for 20,000 people.
About 25,000 refugees from South Ossetia's population of 70,000 have fled north and are living in camps and hostels in Valdikavkaz. Some 2,000 people, among them foreigners, fled Georgia into Armenia, Interfax reported.