Рокский тоннель
Georgia first said that its military offensive responded to Ossetian shelling of Georgian villages, and it intended to "restore constitutional order" in South Ossetia. Georgia also said it aimed to counter a Russian invasion. During a United Nations Security Council meeting on 8 August, Georgia said that the first Russian troops entered South Ossetia at 05:30 am on 8 August. In a decree ordering the general mobilisation published on 9 August, Saakashvili noted that the Russian troops had advanced through the Roki tunnel on 8 August (after the Georgian attack). The Georgian government continued to maintain its position, saying that around 11:30 pm on 7 August intelligence information was received that 150 Russian army vehicles had entered Georgian territory through the Roki Tunnel. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Saakashvili said that he "wanted to stop the Russian troops before they could reach Georgian villages." "When our tanks moved toward Tskhinvali, the Russians bombed the city. They were the ones – not us – who reduced Tskhinvali to rubble." Georgia released intercepted telephone calls purporting to show that part of a Russian armoured regiment crossed into South Ossetia nearly a full day before Georgia's attack on the capital, Tskhinvali, late on August 7.