Friendship a war couldn't kill

THIS is the tortured human face of the conflict which threatens to set back relations between Russia and the West by a generation.

Side by side in hospital beds lie two friends-a Georgian and a Russian- both victims of a war ravaging the land where until recently they lived in peace as neighbours.

Before the bombs, they often greeted each other in the street or as they tended their cows in shared fields.

But today they lie battered, broken and sick-innocently crushed by the mighty faceless forces squaring up against each other in an obscene show of strength.

Still they remain friends, oblivious to the carnage around them, as teams of doctors fight to keep them alive. In the foreground lies Georgian Zhuili Elikashvili, whose leg was blown off by Russian cluster bombs as he sat watching his cows in a village outside the war-torn town of Gori.

Blood seeps from his missing limb, his face peppered with shrapnel scars.

Behind him is Russian farmer Vladimir Archibov, whose leg bones were shattered by bombs dropped by his countrymen as they aimed at nearby Georgian troops.

Both were injured by Russian jets acting on orders from the Kremlin - hitting back after Georgian troops swept into the disputed territory of South Ossetia.

Mr Elikashvili, 69, told how, one minute he was tending his cattle in his back garden in the village of Kere, the next he was sitting on the ground unable to move.

He looked down to find his leg had gone. Speaking through a translator, 69-year-old Mr Elikashvili told the News of the World: "Vladimir and I were friends before all this happened.

"A few weeks ago we were sitting and chatting about our farms and families. We are from different countries and different villages, but that didn't stop us being friends.

"Now we are still friends, but I don't understand how we ended up here.

"Georgians, Russians and South Ossetians live quite happily together. We even get married to each other.

"I have no idea why this has happened to us. All I remember is standing under a tree in my garden when I suddenly felt explosions coming my way. Before I had a chance to do anything, I fell to the ground. I tried to get up but could only sit.

"It was then I saw that my leg had gone. I called out to people, but I don't remember much more after that.

"My leg hurts so much and I am worried about my family. I don't know if they are all safe.

"I don't know why these soldiers and aeroplanes came to bomb our village. We didn't want to fight with anyone.

"These armies that came have destroyed my life. They have taken my leg, taken my farm and injured my friend."

His Russian pal Mr Archibov, 67, was so badly hurt he was still in shock and unable to speak. Last night he was undergoing an urgent operation to amputate his leg and probably save his life.

Both are victims of a resurgent Russia, determined to flex its muscles after years in the wilderness after the fall of communism.

It is also determined not to stand aside as the West acts to guarantee its oil supplies. Although the war started over South Ossetia, by last night it had spread across much of the rest of Georgia.

Another Georgian area where many inhabitants look to Russia is Abkhazia, now also a centre of fighting.

In the last few days the Russians have blockaded the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti.

As our exclusive pictures show, despite a ceasefire coming into force on Tuesday, Russia attacked ships in Poti's harbour and sent dozens of tanks on to the streets.

With Poti a few miles from the end of a 1,000-mile oil pipeline, its capture has sent spasms down the spines of Western energy markets.

Last night, despite the ceasefire agreement, the Russians showed no signs of retreating. Some reports said their forces were pushing towards the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.