"A humanitarian mission"

Via the Telegraph:

A column of 70 Russian military vehicles, including military trucks with anti-aircraft guns and artillery, as well as armoured personnel carriers, pursued by a large contingent of the world’s media, left Gori on the road to Tbilisi and turned left a few kilometres outside of the frontline Georgian town.

Russian troops claimed they were on a “humanitarian mission”, however, the true purpose of the mission remained unclear as reports of burning and looting in villages near Gori by South Ossetian rebels and Russian army personnel emerged.