People in the News - 2nd prize
Justyna Mielnikiewicz
for The New York Times
for The New York Times
14 August, 2008
Elderly residents of the village of Dzarcumi arrive in Gori, following a day's walk after their village was burned.
Fighting broke out between the Georgian army and separatist forces in the breakaway region of South Ossetia in August 2008. Russian troops moved into the region in support of the separatists. As the conflict spread beyond the boundary of South Ossetia, people fled their homes. Thousands are still displaced. The issue remains essentially unresolved, with Russia recognizing South Ossetia as independent, and Georgia and most other United Nations countries seeing it as part of Georgia.