Before setting out from Stavropol, I had been assured by the Russian authorities that we would have no problems getting there – though they apparently forgot to tell the border guards at the South Ossetia crossing, who stated that foreign journalists weren’t allowed into the recent conflict zone. Figuring I had come this far already, I waited it out for three days there at the Russian military mountain checkpoint. Fortunately, we were finally allowed to go – though it took a personal phone call from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s press secretary to convince the police commander that we were harmless. link

It’s an interesting interview that also covers the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The South Ossetian conflict, which began in early August this year, not only sparked a military war between Russia and Georgia, but a propaganda battle. It even made the front-page of PR Week magazine in the UK. Both countries have hired Western PR companies to help put across their messages. link

Incidentally, Matthew will be joining us at From the Frontline as a blogger. He’ll be one of between 30-40 new bloggers starting by the end of November (fingers crossed

A Dutch government investigation has found that a Russian cluster bomb killed a television cameraman in Georgia in August, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. Russia denied using cluster munitions during its brief war with Georgia in August, but human rights groups say both sides unleashed the widely denounced weapons. link

We previously linked to the cluster bomb angle back in August and the footage of the Dutch journalist killed during the attack. In May 2008, more than 100 countries agreed to ban cluster bombs within eight years. Neither Georgia nor Russia signed the accord.

The BBC’s Rupert Wingfield-Hayes and the TV crew he was travelling with were turned back by armed militia men as they attempted to enter South Ossetia. Click the image above to watch the footage.

It was unclear whether or not I would be able to get into South Ossetia. I went to a collection point in North Ossetia in military uniform and registered as a volunteer. On the border to South Ossetia no one controlled our convoy of 10 buses and 200 soldiers. We only had to hold up our passports. “Through you go boys” they said. “Fight for Russia!” It was only as we were returning four days later that I was stopped by the Russian security service, the FSB, and asked why I had no exit stamp in my passport. Volunteers were not allowed into Tskhinvali. So I decided to make my own way and travelled alone to Tskhinvali by car. link

Marcus Bleasdale is a bit of a regular in these parts and it seems the Oslo-based photojournalist has been busy of late. The above frame is taken from a recent commission in Georgia. Beyond all out war, Marcus has also visited Venezuala and the USA. There are some great pictures (as usual) in all these presentations. We interviewed Marcus last year.

Now that’s how to do a multimedia presentation and get inside the workings of a photojournalist on the road all through images and emails. A Georgian Diary by Thomas Dworzak for Magnum in Motion is excellent,

The Russians invaded Georgia on August 8th, while George W. Bush was in Beijing attending the Olympics. Twenty days passed and Barack Obama was officially named the Democratic Party candidate for the 2008 presidential run. In the meantime, the escalating harsh conflict in Georgia left Europeans and Americans aghast. link

I’m not sure what deal Sasha was on with ITAR-TASS when he died in South Ossetia, but when we met, he was working for them regularly, generally being paid by the picture somewhere around $15/$20 each.
Sasha and Giga were the only breadwinners in their respective families and their deaths create great problems and hardships for them in a country where the welfare state is largely non-existent and any amount – however small – would be very much appreciated to help the families in the short term. link

Global Voices point us to Live Journal user photomans with photographs from Tskhinvali and a refugee camp in Vladikavkaz. They’re from mid-August, but have not been circulated throughout western media as far as I can tell. There are the, by now, familiar appeals from journalists who know no other way of contacting bloggers in the comments,

I am journalist and producer for Bluepress photowire and video agency : bluepressagency.com We want to sell your pictures from Ossetie, for French magazine and news paper and american press. Could you send us you e-mail/ phone number? Could you make legend (captions) of the pictures. link

Meanwhile, Global Voices also talks about how Russians and Georgians interacted in the blogosphere during the recent war in Georgia and South Ossetia. Ethan Zuckerman has a good round up on the failings of the blogosphere and how, according to a Belarussian journalist called Evgeny Morozov, it can sometimes be difficult to verify the authenticity of a blog, especially a blog that suddenly appears out of nowhere,

Besides the scarcity of blog accounts from the ground, Morozov is concerned with their veracity and reliability: “Most were of poor quality, and many appeared on blogs with no reputation, no previous blogging history (some had been registered only a few days before the war), and carried no identification of a real person with a real name who could claim responsibility for or ownership of them.”… Thereâ€s a wealth of blogs that claim to give eyewitness reports of the conflict, and these eyewitness reports tend to strongly favor one interpretation of events over another. link

TIME photographer Yuri Kozyrev rides with Russian troops through Georgia and the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. Meanwhile, Leli Blagonravova, a Georgian photojournalist, who was in Gori when the Russians first attacked on August 8-9 delivers a personal account on France 24’s Observers site. The Frontline Club‘s very own Kim Sengupta reports on Georgian claims of ethnic cleansing in The Independent.