More than five hundred people are confirmed dead after Georgia's attack in August, according to the South Ossetian prosecutor's office. Meanwhile the war-torn region is determined to get back to normality as quickly as p

Scars of the conflict are still very visible in the capital Tskhinval, as RT's correspondent found out. Many houses have been reduced to rubble, and others have been gutted by shelling and rendered uninhabitable.

Water supplies have been switched on in most areas, but hot water is still a rare luxury.

On the other hand, Tskhinvalians are making the most of what they have salvaged, and are eager to rebuild and get back to work.

RT's correspondent spoke to a man who was carefully washing his car, even though his house was missing half of its roof. He said he still takes pride in what his car looks like, all the same.

Public services and amenities were quick to recover, thanks to supplies delivered from Russia and other countries. Several shops and a bakery are back in business. The hospital has been repaired, schools are running and the university, though all of its main buildings save the Faculty of Biology were shelled during the attack, is holding lessons in temporary classrooms.

The city is rapidly recovering, but relief efforts will continue for a while yet. Compensation has been promised to victims whose houses have been destroyed, and construction materials are continually arriving.