Russia said it sunk a Georgian missile boat that was trying to attack its ships in the Black Sea, news agencies reported.
The Defense Ministry refused to comment to The Associated Press on the reports and Georgian officials could not immediately be reached. If confirmed, the incident could mark a serious escalation of fighting that has raged between Russia and Georgia over the separatist Georgian province of South Ossetia.
Also on Sunday, a group of Russian tanks attempted to cross from South Ossetia into the territory of Georgia proper, but were turned back by Georgian forces, according to Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Temur Yakobashvili.
He said the tanks apparently were trying to approach Gori, a city of about 50,000 near the South Ossetian border. But he said the tanks did not fire on the city.
The reported hostilities late Sunday came despite Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's call of a cease-fire and the government saying it was withdrawing troops from South Ossetia, where brutal fighting between Georgian and Russian forces broke out Friday.
Russia sent naval vessels to patrol off Georgia's Black Sea coast, but denied yesterday that the move was aimed at establishing a blockade.
The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman as saying that Georgian missile boats twice tried to attack Russian ships, which fired back and sank one of the Georgian vessels.
