They wouldn't, and (as far as I'm aware) no such suggestion has been made - until now, and I think he's just made it up.
According to the BBC report (which I didn't pay that much attention to), Georgia attacked South Ossetia, supposedly because of a long standing dispute. South Ossetia appealed to Russia for help, who have supplied it, and at the moment there seems no sign of the fighting stopping.
There have been civilian casualties, but not for Space Varmints stupid suggestion, but caused by targetting of specific tactical sites - presumably bridges, power stations etc. It's a war, you don't just have little soldiers fighting each other off on their own - you flatten the infrastructure. Just look how the war in the Middle East went.