Fierce fighting continues in Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia, with Georgian and Russian forces battling for control of the enclave. Hundreds of civilians have been reported killed or injured after a second night of fighting, and major damage has been reported in the separatist capital of Tskhinvali. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins
While most of this early information cannot be substantiated, it is worthwhile for RFE to have provided it as the situation progresses. This piece describes the claims of both sides and tells how the US and the UN have responded thus far (Bush strongly backed up Georgia and the UN threw up their hands and said "we don't know yet"). If the claims about bombing of civilian populations are confirmed, and the claims of ethnic cleansing are not, Russia is once again going to be the target of international condemnation for their invasion of the fledgling democracy. As news analysis, this report is badly lacking, but for timely reporting of immensely important events, it is very valuable.
