Russian fighter jets have bombed shipping in the Black Sea port of Poti as fighting escalates in the breakaway province of South Ossetia in Georgia.
Georgia's Security Council secretary Kakha Lomaia said early on Saturday that Russia has also bombed a military base, inland at Senaki.
Deputy Economic Development Minister Vato Lezhava said Russian fighter jets hit container tankers and a shipbuilding plant in Poti. He said between eight and 11 jets were involved in the attack.
Mr Lomaia said Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili is expected to declare martial law shortly.
There has been heavy fighting in the provincial capital of South Ossetia. Russian forces entered Tskhinvali after Georgia announced its troops had seized the town.
Georgia has been fighting separatists with ties to Russia in order to regain control of the province, which has had de facto independence since a war in 1991-92.
Rebels say at least 1400 people have been killed in Tskhinvali, many of them civilians.
The International Red Cross says it has received reports that hospitals in Tskhinvali were "overflowing" with casualties.
The European security organisation warns that the fighting could escalate into a full-scale war. OSCE chairman, Finnish foreign minister Alexander Stubb, says such a war would have a devastating impact for the entire region.
Russia has had troops stationed in Georgia for over two centuries. After protracted discussions, it agreed in 2005 to withdraw from its two remaining bases, one in Ajaria and the other in southern Georgia, by the end of 2008.
Georgia has reportedly asked the US military to provide aircraft to move Georgian troops home from Iraq.
Halt to fighting urged
NATO and the European Union have called for a halt to the fighting. NATO says it's seriously concerned about the situation.
The United States has called on Russia to withdraw its combat troops from Georgia and stop air strikes. In a statement on Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to respect Georgia's territorial integrity.
The White House says President George Bush discussed the situation with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Beijing, at the opening of the Olympic Games.
Georgia is at the center of a battle for influence between the United States and Russia in the Caucasus. The region is seen as a key energy transit route.
The United Nations Security Council has held two emergency meetings in the past 24 hours.
Security Council members were unable to agree in a late-night emergency session on Thursday on a statement that would have called for a cease-fire.
