Here’s a good story from the Beeb decribing how both sides are trying to “spin” the story. HRW try’s to stop the spin with some veracity.

BBC Aug 12:
Russian officials say more than 1,500 civilians were killed in Tskhinvali after Georgia launched an all-out assault last Friday, using heavy artillery and tanks. The casualty toll cannot be independently verified.

Giorgi Gogia, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Tbilisi, described the Russian figure for Tskhinvali as “an exaggeration”, adding: “It is clear that both sides are exaggerating, and that figures are inflated”.

He said HRW, which is based in New York, had not found any evidence to back up Russian claims of atrocities committed by Georgian troops.