Arkady Babchenko on South Ossetia

Arkady Babchenko, military correspondent for the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and author of One Soldier’s War, took some of the most graphic and memorable footage from the recent war in South Ossetia. He talked to the German publication Neuer Zürcher Zeitung about the assignment. Sign and Sight translate the interview which covers Arkady’s thoughts on the conflict, Anna Politkovskaya and he explains how he got into South Ossetia in the first place,

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