‘It's not unexpected the western media would back Georgia,’ says Andranik Migranyan, a member of the Public Chamber of Russia, a think tank working to improve the image of Russia in the world.

Russia is seeking to prosecute those connected with atrocities that it accuses Georgia of committing in Tskhinvali. Vladimir Pligin from the Russian State Duma Constitutional Law Committee says evidence is being gathered, so legal action can begin.

‘Now Russia is economically and to some extent politically and militarily strong again, which can be unwelcome for powers who got used to the Russia of the 1990s’ – that’s one explanation put forward  by Marc Almond from Oxford University about criticism of Russia from many western politicians.

For Professor Alecia Jaoeva, from Moscow State University, the tragedy in South Ossetia is a personal one. She comes from the region and her friends and family are still there. Alecia’s cousin lost her husband during the conflict. She joined RT to talk about the crisis.

Russia and Georgia have agreed a truce, but many issues still remain that are likely to hamper peace negotiations. John Laughland, from the Paris-based Institute for Democracy and Cooperation, joined RT to discuss what these issues are.

NATO has no moral right to call the Russian response to Georgian aggression in South Ossetia disproportionate, says Russian envoy to the alliance Dmitry Rogozin.

Western media coverage of the Georgian offensive in South Ossetia was unbalanced, believes Aleksander Pikayev, from Moscow’s Institute for World Economy and International Relations.

The head of the Carnegie Endowment Center for Peace in Moscow believes "serious analysis" and "heavy lifting by world leaders" is needed to bring about stability in South Ossetia.