A 40-year-old woman stands in the middle of a footpath and bursts into tears after arriving with a convoy of refugees in the embattled Georgian enclave of South Ossetia.

"When the Russians arrived, we were so happy, and after they bombed them [the Georgians]," said the woman called Meri, referring to the Russian assault and air raids on Georgia that forced Tbilisi to pull back its troops from South Ossetia.

She arrived at Java, about 20 kilometres from the main city of Tskhinvali, with a group of refugees, mostly women, escorted by Russian soldiers.

They escaped from the "horror", the one word they all used to describe the scenes of attacks by Georgian troops, battling against Russian and Ossetian rebel forces over the past three days.

One woman told how a family of four including two children tried to flee from a Georgian tank but it "fired on their car and they were all burned" to death, said Angela, who like all the refugees only gave her first name.

In another incident, a woman eight months pregnant and two family members fleeing from the city under attack were hit by tank fire and "nothing remained of them," Angela said.

She saw the Georgian tanks roll into Tskhinvali, the soldiers shouting "Hail Saakashvili," who is the president of Georgia.

"They destroyed the city," added Inna, 33, who said she could not understand how the Georgian troops "could do that to civilians."

"You see your friend's home burning and there's nothing you can do. You just watch and cry, it's a genocide," Inna said.

An old woman among the refugees said all she had left was the dress she was wearing.

"My house is destroyed," she said.

At Java, a refugee camp of tents is being set up in a stadium by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Services, Education Minister Zamira Giova said.

"Those who have relatives in North Ossetia can go on to there tomorrow [Monday]," she said.

The local authorities are also preparing to send buses to Tskhinvali to pick up more refugees - 400 were expected to be evacuated Sunday, other refugee said.

Ms Giova said the authorities would "look for children and people who are hiding in basements."

The Russian emergency services planned to send 15 ambulances to the South Ossetia's self-proclaimed capital to evacuate some 50 wounded people holed up in the basement of a hospital destroyed in the fighting, said Vitali Slepushkin, a coordinator of Russian services.

Some 50 wounded have already been evacuated and taken across the border to the Russian city of Vladikavkaz.

But Inna said she did not want to be a refugee: she wanted to return to Tskhinvali.

"My brother forced me to leave today," she explained.

"I'm not afraid. I want to clean myself up and return there to help my brother and my husband who are in the battle. They need someone to help them."

Georgian troops entered South Ossetia on Thursday seeking to regain control of the breakaway territory, but that sparked Russia's military riposte.

- AFP