Russian invasion of Georgia photos

[David]

A Russian armored vehicle is seen driving past an old election poster showing Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and reading, 'Say Yes to Peace and Stability' in Tskhinvali, capital of the Georgian breakaway province of South Ossetia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. Gutted and shrapnel-scarred buildings testify to fierce street battles and heavy rocket and bomb attacks in the separatist capital of South Ossetia.





A South Ossetian man gestures as he holds a Russian and South Ossetian flag, as he stands in a damaged building in Tskhinvali, capital of the Georgian breakaway province of South Ossetia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. Gutted and shrapnel-scarred buildings testify to fierce street battles and heavy rocket and bomb attacks in the separatist capital of South Ossetia.

[David]

A column of Russia's Grad (Hail) multiple rocket launch system enters central Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia, August 12, 2008.








Smoke from burning houses is seen as a Russian armored vehicle passes by the village of Kikhva, populated by ethnic Georgians, in the breakaway province of South Ossetia, Georgia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. A number of former Georgian communities near Tskhinvali have been abandoned, including a string just north of the capital of the breakaway region.

[David]

Russian soldiers walk in a street in Tskhinvali, in the Georgian breakaway province of South Ossetia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. Gutted and shrapnel-scarred buildings testify to fierce street battles and heavy rocket and bomb attacks in the separatist capital of South Ossetia. But there is little evidence civilians were specifically targeted by Georgian troops, as Russia claims.







Russian soldiers walk in a street in Tskhinvali, in the Georgian breakaway province of South Ossetia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. Gutted and shrapnel-scarred buildings testify to fierce street battles and heavy rocket and bomb attacks in the separatist capital of South Ossetia. But there is little evidence civilians were specifically targeted by Georgian troops, as Russia claims.

[David]

Russian soldiers ride atop military vehicles in Tskhinvali, in the Georgian breakaway province of South Ossetia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. Gutted and shrapnel-scarred buildings testify to fierce street battles and heavy rocket and bomb attacks in the separatist capital of South Ossetia. But there is little evidence civilians were specifically targeted by Georgian troops, as Russia claims.








Units of irregulars travel in military vehicles on the road between Gori and Tbilisi, south of Gori ,August 13, 2008. Russian troops have left the Georgian town of Gori near South Ossetia, but are not advancing towards the capital Tbilisi, Georgia's deputy interior minister said on Wednesday.

[David]

A supporter of Russian-backed rebel regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia holds up a placard reading "Child killer Saakashvili, he killed 2,000 civilians in South Ossetia " during a demonstration in front of the Georgian Consulate in Istanbul. George W. Bush ordered Condoleezza Rice to France and Georgia in support of French-led plans to end the war between the former Soviet republic and Russia.







Refugees from Georgian villages in South Ossetia drive to Tbilisi August 13, 2008. Russian troops have left the Georgian town of Gori near South Ossetia, but are not advancing towards the capital Tbilisi, Georgia's deputy interior minister said on Wednesday.

[David]

The Georgian national flag with a black ribbon flies atop the presidential residence in Tbilisi as the country observes three days of mourning August 13, 2008. Russia and Georgia proclaimed a day of mourning on Wednesday for the dead in five days of fighting over separatist South Ossetia before difficult negotiations on the details of an EU-brokered peace plan.








Police prevent protesters from presenting a coffin to the Russian consulate during a demonstration by the Georgian diaspora in Kiev August 13, 2008. European Union foreign ministers agreed in principle on Wednesday to send monitors to supervise a French-brokered ceasefire between Russia and Georgia in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia.

[David]

A soldier, part of a Russian military convoy, gestures as he travels on his way on a main road leading to the Georgian city of Zugdidi, which is about 350 km (220 miles) away from Georgia's capital Tbilisi, August 13, 2008. Russia will spend at least $400 million in 2008 on restoring South Ossetia's battered capital Tskhinvali, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Wednesday.







A view of what Russia's deputy chief of General Staff Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn alleges, is a seized Georgian military maps, is displayed during his news conference in Moscow, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. According to Nogovitsyn the maps, which were captured by Russian paratroopers in an abandoned Georgian military vehicle in Abkhazia, depict Georgian plans to invade the separatist republic. Nogovitsyn said Wednesday Georgia planned to invade Abkhazia after the seizure of South Ossetia, but the Russian military buildup in Abkhazia wrecked the Georgian plan. Georgia insisted its troops had been driven out from Abkhazia by Russian forces.

[David]

A woman is seen with a cart of her belongings, in a street in Tskhinvali, capital of Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008. Georgia and Russia have agreed to a cease-fire that calls for both country's forces to pull back to original positions, but it was unclear how long that repositioning could take.







An UN soldier takes picture in his armoured vehicle parked on the roadside as a Russian military convoy travels on its way on a main road leading to the Georgian city of Zugdidi, which is about 350 km (220 miles) away from Georgia's capital Tbilisi, August 13, 2008. Georgia accused Russia on Wednesday of sending tanks from South Ossetia into the Georgian town of Gori but Russia issued a swift denial and an eyewitness said the town was empty.

[David]

Soldiers, part of a Russian military convoy, travel on their way on a main road leading to the Georgian city of Zugdidi, which is about 350 km (220 miles) away from Georgia's capital Tbilisi, August 13, 2008. Georgia accused Russia on Wednesday of sending tanks from South Ossetia into the Georgian town of Gori but Russia issued a swift denial and an eyewitness said the town was empty.







Tanks, part of a Russian military convoy, travel on their way on a main road leading to the Georgian city of Zugdidi, which is about 350 km (220 miles) away from Georgia's capital Tbilisi, August 13, 2008. Georgia accused Russia on Wednesday of sending tanks from South Ossetia into the Georgian town of Gori but Russia issued a swift denial and an eyewitness said the town was empty.

[David]

A Georgian woman cries in front of her destroyed apartment building in the city of Gori, Georgia, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. An EU peace plan for Georgia and Russia struggled to take hold Wednesday, as the concept of having both sides retreat to their original positions ran into the stark reality of Russian dominance on the battlefield. By Wednesday morning, Georgia reported Russian tanks moving into its key central city of Gori outside the breakaway province of South Ossetia at the epicenter of fighting.







A man, injured during the conflict in South Ossetia, sits on a hospital bed in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz August 13, 2008. Georgia accused Russia on Wednesday of sending tanks from South Ossetia into the Georgian town of Gori but Russia issued a swift, strong denial and an eyewitness said the town was empty.