Hei K,

Seems the Russians were well prepared on the civil front (withdrawal of non-combatants, agitprop in place, etc.). Leaving aside the military aspect (which others have discussed), I've never discounted their capabilities for deception, disinformation and political infiltration.

Tying into Goble's before picture at Tskhinvali, is an after picture in one of today's CSM's leads:

Behind checkpoints, a look at Russian actions in Georgia
Our correspondent describes a tour led by Kremlin press attaché SashaMechevsky through Russian-controlled villages and the South Ossetian capitalof Tskhinvali.
By Paul Rimple
from the August 25, 2008 edition
Since agreeing to a cease-fire deal with Georgia Aug. 15, Russia has been under close scrutiny. Is it pulling troops out or not? Is it protecting smoldering villages or pillaging them?

Moscow has frequently said one thing while eyewitnesses have reported another during the conflict. Even after Friday's withdrawal, US officials said Russia – which left troops at military checkpoints ringing South Ossetia – had not gone far enough. Georgia blamed the weekend explosion of a train carrying crude oil on a Russian-planted land mine.

As someone who has lived in and reported from Georgia for six years, I knew how rumors could fly around here. I wanted to see for myself what Russia was doing. ....
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0825/p07s02-woeu.html

This article links to three other CSM articles which might be of interest.

Another view of the same guided tour from McClatchy:

Posted on Sunday, August 24, 2008
Russians give tour of Georgia, but try not to show too much
By Tom Lasseter | McClatchy Newspapers

KARALETI, Georgia — Russian Col. Igor Konoshenko looked at the building that had been burned by looters — who'd entered the town earlier this month after Russian troops drove through — and quickly tried to shift the reporters' attention elsewhere.

"The other buildings are fine, look at them," he said, waving his hand assertively.

That sort of redirection was typical of a seven-and-a-half-hour tour that the Russians conducted Sunday for reporters in the occupied countryside of Georgia. ....
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/50479.html

Some of the comments to the McClatchy article are real pieces of work - LOL !