Beneath a corrugated iron awning in the courtyard of the recruitment centre, a group of irregular soldiers mills about restlessly. Their battle get-up ranges from jeans and striped Russian navy T-shirts to Soviet-era military dress. But their chatter is uniform – an endless discussion about the war and what it means. One fighter, who described himself only as a Cossack from Siberia, also said the goal of Georgia’s President, Mikheil Saakashvili, and his American backers is nothing less than the complete ethnic cleansing of the region. “It’s an American-led genocide,” he said. Some volunteers in Vladikavkaz said they were being given assault rifles and $400 (£200).