Letter from Tbilisi: Georgia Weathers Russian Assault

Today the conflict between Russia and Georgia is widening as Russia bombs closer to the capital of Tbilisi. Just a couple of hours ago, I received an e-mail being sent around by Luka Adikashvili, a 19-year-old student and rock guitarist in Tbilisi. He writes:

"Three days ago, Georgian armed forces started an operation aiming to regain control on it’s revolted region – South Ossetia. ... At first, Georgian troops took Tshkinvali – the capital of South Ossetian region. On August 8, 2008, Russian aircrafts started to bombard Georgia, even towns on about 200 kilometers from the battle front. Georgia is about 500 kilometers long and South Ossetia is in the middle of it. My country was getting bombarded all around it’s territory. In Gori, the biggest town near South Ossetia, living buildings were bombarded. During the last night, 300 Russian tanks and about 10 000 of their soldiers stormed across the Georgian border and opened fire on Tskhinvali. which was at that time controlled by Georgian forces. Tskhinvali was under bombardment of Russian air forces during the whole night. As a result, the Georgian troops had to leave the town. All this reminds me oh how Russian army conquered us in 1921."

Luka pleads for people to protest, adding, "Let’s tame the nuclear bear together before there is one less country in the world!"

Gori is the scene of this photo that's sure to make the Pulitzer short list. Also, the BBC's Richard Galpin writes about having to flee Gori after 72 hours of ups and downs. And here's an excellent blog analysis of Russia's "peacekeeper" status so often cited in news stories about the conflict.