Chaos has once again hit Georgia's streets, as a large group of demonstrators attempted to storm the presidential palace in the capital Saturday, at a moment of controversial municipal elections.

Georgia's ruling party Georgian Dream has gone so far as to describe unrest in the capital is an attempt to stage a coup in the country. "This is a direct attempt at a coup. They literally broke into the presidential palace," the ruling party's general secretary and Tbilisi Mayor, Kakha Kaladze, has said.

Opposition parties have charged Georgian Dream with being too close to Russia and running the country based on authoritarian rule, and so called for the mass boycott of the municipal elections.

Thousands of protesters were seen in Freedom Square and along the central Rustaveli Avenue. The flag of the European Union was being waved prominently alongside Georgian flags, which for ruling officials has raised the spectre of the influence of Western 'anti-Russian' NGO's.

Protesters had at one point set fires, blocked roads, and engaged in confrontations with police - resulting in riot control measures being deployed. Russian media says:

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze reiterated his claim that the protests were “organized by foreign intelligence agencies” to overthrow the government.

He vowed an “uncompromising” stance against lawbreakers, stating that “anyone who participates in operations ordered by foreign special services will be given a just punishment,” according to First Channel.

By evening, groups were seen marching toward the presidential palace and tried to breach the perimeter fence, after which the government declared it an illegal gathering.

RT writes further, "People began gathering in the center of Tbilisi Saturday evening. Later, one of the organizers urged demonstrators to take the keys to the presidential residence into their own hands. They stormed the property and managed to break into the courtyard of the residence."

Protesters earlier en route to the standoff at parliament and the presidential grounds...

The country of some 3.7 million people has been beset by accusations of election fraud under ruling officials. These charges grew more fierce in the wake of last year's contested parliamentary elections, during which time the government froze the EU accession process.

Once again a former Soviet satellite state finds itself in the center of an 'east-west' struggle involving European integration on one side, and the Russian sphere of economic and political influence on the other.