MOSCOW, August 8, 2008 (AFP) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday promised to defend Russian citizens under attack in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia.

'We cannot allow the deaths of our countrymen to go unpunished. The guilty parties will receive the punishment they deserve,' Medvedev said in televised remarks.

'I am obliged to protect the lives and dignity of Russian citizens, no matter where they are located,' he said after Georgia said its forces had surrounded the capital of South Ossetia, many of whose residents have Russian citizenship.