Russia sent its once feared tanks into the separatist province of South Ossetia and the Russian air forces bombed a Georgian town Saturday as the conflict in that region abruptly escalated. Hundreds of people were already killed and many civilians were left among ruins.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that his country is in a state of war while accusing Moscow of a massive military aggression. The government in Tbilisi approved the martial law and mobilized reservists to cope with the situation.

However, it is still unclear who controls Tskhinvali, the province’s capital city. The Georgian authorities said they are still in control, while the separatist leaders seemed to contradict each other. According to Eduard Kokoity, self-styled president of the separatist region, the Georgian military tried to retake the town twice but failed.

"We set ablaze a lot of their military hardware," he told Russia's Interfax news agency.

Meanwhile, Boris Chochiyev, deputy head of the South Ossetian government, said that the region’s capital city was lost to the Georgian army.

"The city has been lost. We have been betrayed," said Chochiyev.

From Beijing, China, where he is attending the 2008 Olympic Games, the United States President George W. Bush talked about the escalating crisis. Bush described the conflicts in Georgia as “a dangerous escalation in the crisis."

On the other hand, Russia’s newly-elected President Dmitry Medvedev released a statement in which he said that Moscow has sent troops to South Ossetia to force Georgia into a cease-fire and prevent Georgia from regaining control of the separatist region.