Jack, re Tskhinvali:
1) Georgian forces level several buildings of local government in central Tskhinvali and take up positions in town.
2) Russians launch a counteroffensive and carpet bomb practically the whole town.

The question then is, how many casualties were caused by Georgians and how many by Russians?

Do you think that Russian leadership would not grab the opportunity and claim that all the casualties were caused by Georgians? And how would locals actually be able to tell who is actually shooting?