This past weekend, we reported on the spate of robberies and looting by Russian troops and groups of South Ossetian bandits following a phone call with a Georgian official. Today the New York Times corroborates these reports with some of the first contacts with citizens that haven’t been staged managed by either government (which of course has left a heavy presence on much of the coverage). Leaving aside for the moment the bitter political disagreements over the cause of the war, these sad, sad stories highlight how many of these military actions have been executed with extreme prejudice, if not hate. My impression is that even if the Russian troops fully withdraw, the conflict will remain frozen for years to come.

On Monday, three journalists from The New York Times gained unaccompanied access to four of these villages — Akhaldaba, Variani, Shindisi and Karaleti — providing an unfiltered, though limited, view of the ill fortune and punishments endured by the civilian Georgian population caught in the war.