In fact, according to the BBC, "more than half of South Ossetia's 70,000 citizens are said to have taken up Moscow's offer of a Russian passport."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev claims 90 per cent of South Ossetia residents possess such passports. Georgia accuses the Russian troops of siding with the separatists, while Moscow denies the allegations.
The President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, proposed a peace deal under which South Ossetia would be given 'a large degree of autonomy' within a federal state. The separatist leaders say they want full independence, and so rejected the peace deal.
Image: Georgian special forces secure the area around the central police station in capital T'bilisi. Georgia has filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court against Russia.
Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Russia seeks additional $1.2 bn for Gorshkov
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