The country, a former Soviet republic, has been at war with Russia since being attacked Aug. 7. A ceasefire agreement was signed on Aug. 15, but some fighting has continued.

Let me thank you for expressing solidarity in this difficult moment,Sabelashvili wrote. ”Unfortunately, I have not been able to take good care of the NGO (nongovernmental organization) these days as I was helping out journalists who covered the events. I was with Danish TV2 journalists as close to capital of South Ossetia as 6 km today. Bombs have been dropped around us. We saw 3 jets and heard more, as well as the noise from more than 20 charges being released.

It is close to panic situation,” Sabelashvili said. ”I am now sitting in the office and try to get (hold of) family and friends. Mobile phones are down. I am not sure when will Internet go off. Russian troops are stationed 20 km west to capital Tbilisi and people are fleeing the city.
I do not know what is on invaders’ mind but it is really bad what is on in town. Only reason our Web site still works is that it is placed outside Georgia and does not have Georgian domain.

It is not so easy for me to make clear points. So, obviously, I need to stop writing and go back to why I came to office: to back up all our workfiles in case office is bombed. I thank you for thinking of us and I wish peace to all of you no matter where you are. By the way, we are out and publicly visible — you can see that in our magazine as well.

The group’s Web site is inclusive-foundation.org.