Russia and Georgia on Tuesday renewed their war of words over who started their recent conflict, with Tbilisi releasing mobile phone recordings purporting to show Russian armour crossed into Georgia well before Georgia began its attack.

The Georgian government distributed the recordings in support of its claim that Russia was the aggressor in the fighting in which hundreds died and tens of thousands fled their homes. Russia insists it intervened only in response to the Georgian assault on the breakaway territory of South Ossetia and on Russian peace-keeping troops.