Georgia: Cyrillic Bloggers React

Global Voices Online’s Veronica Khokhlova posts translated excerpts from Russian-language blogs reacting to the conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

In a brief report sent around noon on Aug. 8 from a hotel basement in Tskhinvali, the beleaguered capital of South Ossetia, Russian journalist Mikhail Romanov wrote this about the nature of the ongoing conflict between Georgia and Russia:

[…] The city is under heavy howitzer and mortar fire. An endless cannonade. I’ve seen many wounded people.

Peacekeepers are commenting succinctly: “This is war.”

I was planning to leave tomorrow, a car was supposed to pick me up at 5 in the morning. Now it’s not clear whether it’ll pick me up. In general, nothing is clear.

Earlier that day, around 4 AM local time, LJ user alan_tskhurbaev, a blogger from Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia-Alania, had a phone conversation with a friend from Tskhinvali (RUS):

He is sitting in the basement, with a machine gun, and is so angry, he’s almost crying. He says that machine guns are of no use to anyone here. Says that the city has been washed so forcefully with the [multiple rocket launcher system “Grad”] fire that the level of destruction is going to be very serious. He cannot talk about casualties yet, as there is even less information there than here. He says it has grown quieter now. He can’t believe this is really happening. He’s asking, Where is Russia?

The full post is available on Global Voices Online.