Despite pleas for a cease fire from most of the world and Georgia herself, Russian troops have begun what it appears to be a drive to capture the vital rail and highway nexus in the towm of Gori which would effectively split Georgia in two.

According to diplomats quoted in the New York Times, Vladamir Putin's aims may be nothing less than regime change in Georgia:

Two senior Western officials said that it was unclear whether Russia intended a full invasion of Georgia, but that its aims could go as far as destroying its armed forces or overthrowing Mr. Saakashvili.

"They seem to have gone beyond the logical stopping point," one senior Western diplomat said, speaking anonymously under normal diplomatic protocol.

The escalation of fighting raised tensions between Russia and its former cold war foes to their highest level in decades. President Bush has promoted Georgia as a bastion of democracy, helped strengthen its military and urged that NATO admit the country to membership. Georgia serves as a major conduit for oil flowing from Russia and Central Asia to the West.

But Russia, emboldened by windfall profits from oil exports, is showing a resolve to reassert its dominance in a region it has always considered its "near abroad."

The ultimatum called for Georgian forces to surrender in the Zugdidi district along the border of Abkhazia. A Georgian official close to the president, Giga Bokaria, said the ultimatum raised alarms that Russian troops would now push into Georgian territory in the west unchallenged by Georgian troops, which have been tied up in fighting further east near the other pro-Russian separatist enclave of South Ossetia.

The pivotal question in the conflict, which has involved heavy fighting since late last week, is now whether Russia - which has poured troops into both Abkhazia and South Ossetia - will push beyond these regions and further into Georgia.