Russo-Georgian War

2008 South Ossetia war
Part of Georgian-Ossetian conflict and Georgian-Abkhazian conflict
Location of Georgia (including the de facto independent provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia) and the Russian part of North Caucasus
Date August 7, 2008 – Location Georgia Result Conflict ongoing, ceasefire taking place
Belligerents
Unrecognised Republic of South Ossetia Russian Federation Unrecognised Republic of Abkhazia	Georgia
Commanders and leaders
Eduard Kokoity Dmitry Medvedev Anatoly Khrulyov Vladimir Shamanov Marat Kulakhmetov Vyacheslav Borisov Sulim Yamadayev Sergei Bagapsh	Mikheil Saakashvili Davit Kezerashvili Zaza Gogava
Strength
3,000-15,000 ~15,000 many of them from North Ossetia-Alania Unknown.	37,000 "Many" volunteers from Georgia. Reportedly small number of ethnic Georgian volunteers from Azerbaijan
Casualties and losses
Confirmed by Russia: Unknown Killed: 74 troops Wounded: 171 Missing: 19 4 aircraft lost Unknown number of losses among the volunteers Unknown Georgian estimates: 400 dead	Confirmed by Georgia: Killed: ~200 soldiers (as of 8/10/08) Health Minister said 175 people died, mainly civilians Russian estimates: ~4,000 dead
Unknown civilian casualties (Russia claimed initially over 2,000 civilians were killed in South Ossetia, which the Human Rights Watch investigators called "suspicious" and "very doubtful")
At least 100,000 civilians displaced, including 56,000 refugees from the Georgian city of Gori, according to the United Nations refugee agency. According to Russia, 30,000 civilians have fled into Russia from South Ossetia (according to the HRW, some 24,000 of which around half may have returned as armed volunteers).

The 2008 South Ossetia war began on August 7, 2008, and involves the country of Georgia, the Russian Federation and the unrecognised republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia which broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s. The war began after a ceasefire agreement between Georgia and South Ossetia broke down (each side accused the other of breaking the ceasefire), and Georgia sent a large military force into South Ossetia which reached the capital Tskhinvali. The head of Georgian forces in South Ossetia said the operation was intended to "restore constitutional order" to the region, while the government said the troops had been sent to end the shelling of Georgian civilians by South Ossetian separatists.

Russia responded the next day by large scale bombardment of Georgian military and civilian targets and by sending troops and armor into South Ossetia, quickly driving the Georgian troops out of Tskhinvali and later invading Georgia proper as well. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused Georgia of committing "genocide" while President Dmitry Medvedev stated that his country's goal was "to force the Georgian side to peace", and that he "must protect lives and the dignity of Russian citizens wherever they are," a reference to the estimated 90% of civilians in South Ossetia who held Russian passports. Russia faced strong criticism from western democracies especially the US where Vice President Dick Cheney stated "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States, as well as the broader international community."

Background

Main articles: Georgian-Ossetian conflict; South Ossetian independence referendum, 2006; and 2008 Georgia-Russia crisis

Detailed map of the Caucasus region (1994), including locations of economically important energy and mineral resources: South Ossetia has reserves of lead and zinc, Abkhazia has coal, and Georgia has oil, gold, copper, manganese, and coal.

South Ossetian interests

The Ossetians are a distinct Iranian ethnic group whose origin lies along the Don River. They came to the Caucasus after they were driven out of their homeland by Mongol invasions in the 13th century. Some of them settled in the territory now known as North Ossetia (currently part of Russia), and South Ossetia (currently part of Georgia).

South Ossetia currently has a Georgian ethnic minority of around one fifth (14,000) of the total population (70,000). The region, which is one and a half times the area of Luxembourg (roughly 6% of the total territory of Georgia) broke away from Georgia in the 1991–1992 war (in which more than 2,000 people are believed to have died). The BBC suggests that the South Ossetians wanted their 'Ossetian' ethnic group identity retained and did not want to become citizens of Georgia. A force with 500 troops each from Russia, North Ossetia-Alania (part of Russia), South Ossetia and Georgia monitored a 1992 truce. In a South Ossetian independence referendum, 2006, held by the secessionist government, full independence was supported by 99% of the voters. A simultaneous alternative referendum held by the pro-Georgian group People of South Ossetia for Peace (or Salvation Union of Ossetians) favored closer ties with Georgia.

Georgian interests

Georgia accuses Russia of the annexation of its internationally recognized territory and installing a puppet government led by Eduard Kokoity and several officials who previously served in the Russian FSB and Army. Sporadic clashes between separatist and Georgian forces have killed dozens of people in the previous few years.

Restoring South Ossetia and Abkhazia (a region with a similar separatist movement) to Georgian control has been a goal of Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili since the Rose Revolution. Saakashvili proposed a new peace accord, under which South Ossetia would be given "a large degree of autonomy" within a federal state, but leaders of those areas are instead demanding full independence. Another point of interest for Georgia is the strategic position of South Ossetia along the border with Russia, as the Roki Tunnel, which passes through the Greater Caucasus Mountains, is one of few road routes between Georgia and Russia and would be a critical component in any plan to control the border.

Russian interests

The majority of the residents of South Ossetia are Russian citizens holding Russian passports. According to the BBC, "more than half of South Ossetia's 70,000 citizens are said to have taken up Moscow's offer of a Russian passport," while a journalist of Deutsche Welle says that "almost all residents have Russian passports." Russian President Dmitry Medvedev asserts that 90% of South Ossetia residents possess them. Since the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War, Russian, Georgian, North Ossetian and South Ossetian soldiers have been stationed in and around South Ossetia as peacekeepers under the terms of a 1992 agreement and were monitored by the OSCE mission in Georgia. The Russian defense ministry said 12 of its peacekeeping troops in South Ossetia had been killed and 30 wounded in the initial Georgian offensive.

Medvedev cited article 80 the Constitution of the Russian Federation, saying, "According to the Constitution, I must protect the life and dignity of Russian citizens wherever they are." Russia describes its intervention as a peacekeeping operation to protect its citizens and peacekeepers, and to enforce their peacekeeping mandate in South Ossetia. Dmitry Medvedev said that it aims to force Georgia to accept peace and restore the status quo, and that it is acting within its peacekeeping mission in South Ossetia, and in line with the mandate issued by the international community. The Russian defense ministry said reinforcements for Russian peacekeepers had been sent to South Ossetia "to help end bloodshed."

Reuters describes the South Ossetian separatist government as "dependent on Russia," which "supplies two thirds of their annual budget," and reports that "Russia's state-controlled gas giant Gazprom is building new gas pipelines and infrastructure" worth hundreds of millions of dollars there.

Timeline of events

Main article: Timeline of the 2008 South Ossetia war

South Ossetia and Abkhazia are territories within Georgia that individually declared independence from Georgia and have each been acting in de facto independent capacities since the early 1990s. Neither state has been diplomatically recognised by any member of the United Nations. Georgia has offered limited autonomy to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but both have declined.

Late on August 1, 2008, intense fighting began between Georgian troops and the forces of South Ossetia. Georgia claimed that South Ossetian separatists had shelled Georgian villages in violation of a ceasefire. South Ossetia denied provoking the conflict. On August 3, South Ossetians started to evacuate into Russia and on August 5, Russian ambassador Yuri Popov warned that Russia will intervene if conflict erupts. On August 7, 2008, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili ordered Georgian troops to cease fire. Despite the offered ceasefire, fighting intensified. Hours after the declaration of the ceasefire, in a televised address, Mikheil Saakashvili vowed to restore Tbilisi's control over what he called the "criminal regime" in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and reinforce order.

During the night and early morning, Georgia launched a military offensive to surround and capture the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali. The heavy shelling left the city in ruins, causing a humanitarian crisis which Russian government sources claimed amounted to genocide. The news of the shelling was extensively covered by Russian media prior to the military reaction that followed, as Russia claimed to have responded in defense of South Ossetians against what they called "a genocide by Georgian forces." Russia claimed up to 2,000 dead in Tskhinvali following the shelling. The extent of civilian casualties was later disputed in a number of sources. By morning, Georgia announced that it surrounded the city and captured eight South Ossetian villages. An independent Georgian TV station announced that Georgian military took control of the city

At Russia’s request, the United Nations Security Council held consultations at 11pm (US EST time) followed by an open meeting at 1.15am (US EST time) with Georgia attending. During consultations Council members discussed a press statement which would call for an end to hostilities but were unable to come to a consensus.

On August 8 2008, Russia sent troops across the Georgian border to South Ossetia to stop Georgia’s offensive against the breakaway territory. In five days of fighting, the Russian forces captured the regional capital Tskhinvali, pushed back Georgian troops, and largely destroyed Georgia’s military infrastructure in airstrikes deep inside the smaller country's territory. Georgia retreated from its offensive in South Ossetia to defend itself.

Action on the Black Sea saw one Georgian missile boat sunk by the Russian Navy on August 9. The Russians claimed that the Georgian ships had attacked them earlier. After the skirmish, the remaining Georgian ships fled in defeat.

Also on August 9, a second front was opened by the military of the Republic of Abkhazia in the Kodori Valley, the only region of Abkhazia that was, before the war began, still in effective control of Georgian loyalists. By August 13, all of the remaining Georgian forces, including 3,000 ethnic Georgian civilians in the Kodori Valley, had retreated to Georgia proper.

On the night of August 11, Russian paratroopers deployed in Abkhazia carried out raids deep inside Georgian territory to destroy military bases from where Georgia could send reinforcements to its troops sealed off in Abkhazia. The Russian military said they were not taking part in the Abkhaz assault on the Georgian forces. Russian forces entered and left the town of Senaki outside Abkhazia on the 11th. The Georgian government also asserted Russian military activity in the port of Poti and the town of Gori. Gori was shelled by the Russians; one shell killed a Dutch reporter from the RTL channel. The Daily Telegraph reporters, in Gori on the 12th, did not see any Russian troops in the city. Since Gori is along Georgia's main highway, its occupation by Russian forces would cut Georgia's lines of communication and logistics in two.

Most international observers began calling for a peaceful solution to the conflict. The European Union and the United States expressed a willingness to send a joint delegation to try and negotiate a cease-fire. Russia ruled out peace talks with Georgia until the latter withdrew from South Ossetia and signed a legally binding pact renouncing the use of force against South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

On August 12, 2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that he had ordered an end to military operations in Georgia. Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said that Russian jets were still targeting civilians. “The status quo in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is no longer possible,” said Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Later on the same day (August 12), Russian president Dmitry Medvedev approved a six-point peace plan brokered by President-in-Office of the European Union, Nicolas Sarkozy, in Moscow. Russian troops drove through the port of Poti on the 12th, and took up positions around it.

On August 13, 2008, the Russians occupied both Gori and Senaki. Russian troops were seen on the road from Gori to Tbilisi, but turned off to the north, about an hour from Tbilisi, and encamped. Georgian troops occupied the road six miles (about 10 km) closer to Tbilisi.

On August 14, 2008, there were reports that the Russians occupied Poti; the Russians denied occupation, but the New York Times claimed that some Russian statements depended on the "technicalities of the definition of occupation". Russian troops attempted to hand Gori back to Georgian authorities, but efforts failed; an attempt to institute joint patrols of Georgian and Russian police in Gori broke down due to apparent discord among personnel.

On August 15, 2008, Reuters stated that Russian forces had pushed to 34 miles (55 km) from Tbilisi, the closest during the war; they briefly stopped in Igoeti along the way. According to the report, 17 APCs and 200 soldiers, including snipers, participated in the advance; the convoy included a military ambulance, and initially, three helicopters.

Georgian patrols witnesses the movement but did not respond. That day, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also travelled to Georgia to secure Saakashvili's signature on the 6-point peace plan.

Infrastructure damage

Georgia claimed Russia had bombed airfields and civil and economic infrastructure, including the Black Sea port of Poti. Between eight and eleven Russian jets reportedly hit container tanks and a shipbuilding plant at the port. Reuters reported an attack on the civilian Tbilisi International Airport, though Russia claimed otherwise. Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temur Iakobashvili also denied this, reportedly stating, "There was no attack on the airport in Tbilisi. It was a factory that produces combat airplanes."

Russia's military claimed the retreating Georgian forces have mined civilian infrastructure in South Ossetia.

Peace plan: Roadmap to end of military hostilities

Ethnic map of the Caucasus from 1995: Ossetians live in North and South Ossetia, as well as in central Georgia.

Demands to end conflict

On August 7 2008, a few hours before Georgia began its main offensive operation, Saakashvili ordered a unilateral ceasefire and called for talks "in any format"; reaffirmed the long-standing offer of full autonomy for South Ossetia; proposed that Russia should guarantee that solution; offered a general amnesty; and pleaded for international intercession to stop the hostilities. On August 10, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin ruled out peace talks with Georgia until it pulled back its forces beyond the borders of South Ossetia and signed a legally binding pact renouncing the use of force against South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway territory of Georgia.

Ceasefire

On August 11, Russian President Medvedev hinted at an end to the conflict saying, "A significant part of the operation to force the Georgian authorities to make peace in South Ossetia has been concluded," and "Tskhinvali is under the control of a reinforced Russian peacekeeping contingent." Russian Prime Minister Putin added Moscow would take its mission in the region to "a logical conclusion." Later the same day, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili signed an EU-backed ceasefire, but the document was rejected by Moscow. According to a Reuters witness, Georgian troops did not cease fire, as six helicopters attacked Tskhinvali on August 11. An Associated Press reporter saw 135 Russian military vehicles, including tanks, driving toward the Kodori Gorge, held by Georgian forces. Russian jets bombed civilian targets in Georgia despite Moscow's announcement that the war had ended, the acting Georgian ambassador to Britain told Sky News.

On August 12, 2008 at 09:00 UTC Russian president and Russian Army Supreme Commander-in-Chief Dmitry Medvedev stated that "peace enforcing operation in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone" was over. Later, Russian General Staff Deputy Chief Anatoliy Nogovitsyn said armed actions would stop, but reconnaissance operations would continue.

On August 13, a reporter for the UK Guardian stated that "the idea there is a ceasefire is ridiculous," and that he could see villages near Gori burning, amidst claims that Chechen, Cossack and Ossetian irregulars were advancing through Georgian villages. CNN reported that journalists in Gori said they had seen no Russian tanks, contrary to claims by the Georgian president. According to Sky News, Georgia's deputy interior minister said "I'd like to calm everybody down. The Russian military is not advancing towards the capital." The same report said "Sky News correspondents Stuart Ramsay and Jason Farrell confirmed there were tanks in Gori, which has suffered extensively from Russian bombing raids" Al Jazeera reported a "continuous build up" of Russian forces in Poti throughout the day, and the destruction of several Georgian vessels. Russia's deputy chief of General Staff Colonel-General Anatoliy Nogovitsyn said sporadic clashes continued in South Ossetia between Georgian snipers and Russian troops. "We must respond to provocations," he said.

EU-brokered six-point peace plan

File:Medvedev,Bagapsh,Kokoity.jpg

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev with Eduard Kokoity (South Ossetia) and Sergei Bagapsh (Abkhazia) shortly before the signing of the Six Principles. (August 14, 2008)

On August 12, Russian President Medvedev met the President-in-Office of the European Union, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and approved a six-point peace plan. Late that night Georgian President Saakashvili agreed to the text. Sarkozy's plan originally had just the first four points. Russia added the fifth and sixth points. Georgia asked for the additions in parentheses, but Russia rejected them, and Sarkozy convinced Georgia to agree to the unchanged text.

1. No recourse to the use of force.

2. Definitive cessation of hostilities.

3. Free access to humanitarian aid (addition rejected: and to allow the return of refugees).

4. Georgian military forces must withdraw to their normal bases of encampment.

5. Russian military forces must withdraw to the lines prior to the start of hostilities. While awaiting an international mechanism, Russian peacekeeping forces will implement additional security measures (addition rejected: six months).

6. Opening of international discussions on the modalities of lasting security in Abkhazia and South Ossetia (addition rejected: based on the decisions of the U.N. and the O.S.C.E.).

According to RIA Novosti, "Sarkozy told a briefing after talks with his Georgian counterpart that the deal also includes some changes requested by Georgia... 'we have removed the issue of South Ossetia's status from the document'". But the New York Times, citing a Georgian negotiator, reported that Sarkozy convinced Georgia to accept the Russian version unchanged, after Medvedev waited two hours to return his phone call and then rejected the proposed changes. The U.S. newspaper further asserted that the fifth point was crucial, and Russia used it to justify continuing hostilities into Georgia proper after the agreement.

On August 14, Medvedev met with South Ossetia President Eduard Kokoity and Abkhazia President Sergei Bagapsh, where they signed the six principles..

Humanitarian impact

South Ossetia

File:Medvedev.jpeg

Russian President Medvedev reading his statement on August 8

On August 8, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev officially stated: "Georgia’s actions have led to human losses, including among Russian peacekeepers... Georgian peacekeepers were opening fire at Russian peacekeepers with whom they were supposed to work together in... maintaining peace in the region. Civilians, women, children and old people are dying today in South Ossetia, and the majority of them are citizens of the Russian Federation".

On August 8, the International Red Cross urged the combatant sides to make a humanitarian corridor to evacuate the wounded and civilians from Tskhinvali. Tskhinvali's main city hospital was non-functional, and ambulances could not reach the wounded, while Georgia continued to bomb the hospital, according to Russian sources. Twenty-two wounded remained in the building, which reportedly had only two storeys left. International Red Cross spokeswoman Anna Nelson said it had received reports that hospitals in Tskhinvali were "overflowing" with casualties. According to Russia Today, more than 150 people were trapped under the rubble of the city hospital. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin alleged that Georgia was responsible for a "complete genocide."

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said that thousands of refugees left South Ossetia, mostly for North Ossetia in Russia within the first days of the conflict. About 140 buses, carrying thousands of refugees, had already arrived in North Ossetia on Friday evening, August 8, according to Reuters.

Human Rights Watch visited a camp for the displaced in the village of Alagir and interviewed more than a dozen people, including those from Tskhinvali and neighboring villages. Those from the city reported spending more than three days in the basements of their houses, unable to come out because of the incessant shelling. Residents of Satikhar village said that after the village came under heavy artillery fire on the night of August 7, all women, children and elderly (more than 100 people) started fleeing their homes. Most of them spent the next two days hiding in the woods and then trying to make their way toward the Russian border. Later, the Russian military in the village of Ger helped in the displaced civilians' transport to North Ossetia.

Eduard Kokoity stated from South Ossetia that the death toll has risen to 1,400 in South Ossetia. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on August 9 upon his return from Beijing to Vladikavkaz claimed that "tens of people killed, hundreds wounded" and 34,000 refugees had crossed the Russian border. The United Nations refugee agency said that between 10,000 and 20,000 people have been displaced within Georgia. According to Russian sources, Tskhinvali was lying in ruins, and more than ten border villages were burnt to the ground as of August 9. According to western media who arrived in the city later, however, "[s]everal residential areas seemed to have little damage" and "[r]eporters witnessed more than a dozen fires in what appeared to be deserted ethnic Georgian neighborhoods and saw evidence of looting in those areas.

The fighting interrupted electricity and telephone service in Tskhinvali, and some inhabitants sheltered in basements with no access to water or medicines.

Russian media reported on August 9 that several journalists were hiding in the basements, as they appealed to world society for a peace corridor to let them out of Tskhinvali.

At a makeshift hospital camp in Alagir on August 9, Prime Minister Putin was told that Georgian troops had set fire to a house with several young women inside. "They were rounded up like cattle, shut into the house, and set on fire. In another place, we saw a tank run over an old woman who was running away with two children. We saw how they slashed up an 18-month child," a refugee said. Russian reports cited the representative of South Ossetia administration Irina Gagloeva asserting that Georgia opened an irrigation canal to flood the basements of Tskhinvali in order to prevent people from hiding in the basements of the buildings during bombings, and that Georgian tanks ran people down and that soldiers took away women.

Human Rights Watch entered the deserted city of Tskhinvali on August 13 and reported that it saw numerous apartment buildings and houses damaged by shelling. It said some of them had been hit by "inherently indiscriminate" weapons that should not be used in areas populated by civilians, such as rockets most likely fired from Grad launchers. It said there was evidence of firing being directed into locations where civilians frequently choose as a place of shelter, such as basements. Human Rights Watch talked to a a teacher at the local kindergarten, who said: "They were shooting from Grad rocket launchers, paying no attention to civilians living in these houses. We went deaf from the shelling. They simply wanted to wipe us off the face of the earth." The woman showed Human Rights Watch researchers the kindergarten building hit by the Grad rockets, as well as fragments of the rocket itself.

Georgia

1993 map showing the defence industries of Georgia at the time: Tbilaviamsheni, an aircraft assembly plant in Tbilisi which was bombed during the war, and component plants in other cities.

The BBC reported that "In one air strike the pilot missed the intended military base, instead hitting two apartment blocks" in Gori, and the reporters "saw injured civilians being pulled from the buildings." Regarding this incident SkyNews reported that "a military installation had been hit in Gori and surrounding residential apartments had been badly damaged." Journalists referred to the situation in Gori as "chaotic". Georgia has alleged that Russia is committing ethnic cleansing against ethnic Georgians.

Before the war started the population of ethnic Georgians living in South Ossetia was estimated to be 18 thousand people or one quarter of the population of the break-away republic. Russian Novye Izvestiya, The Guardian and Sky News reported that "Ossetian irregulars" were looting and burning Georgian villages in South Ossetia and near Gori on August 13. British journalist Andrew Wilson of The Times reported that he was assaulted and almost killed by Ossetian fighters. The Guardian cited witnesses who claimed "an orgy of looting, burning, murdering and rape" against Georgians was carried out by Chechen and Ossetian "volunteers". According to the New York Times, "[o]ne officer, who asked that his name not be used, said there had been a series of attacks on Wednesday on Georgian villages." On August 14 Euronews and the Chicago Tribune relayed reports that homes and buildings in Gori and elsewhere had been looted and torched after the ceasefire declaration. Human Rights Watch said a South Ossetian officer told them: "We burned these houses. We want to make sure that they [the Georgians] can’t come back, because if they do come back, this will be a Georgian enclave again and this should not happen." On August 15 South Ossetia leader Eduard Kokoity said Georgian refugees, who live in South Ossetia and fled the region during previous week's fighting, would not be allowed to return to their homes in the breakaway region.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "[b]andits and looters raged through ethnic Georgian villages in and around South Ossetia, eyewitnesses said. The machine-gun-toting men didn't wear uniforms; they were variously described as Russians, Cossacks, Chechens or ethnic Ossetians. They rounded up men, raped women and set fire to homes, villagers said."

On August 14 BBC News reported that "The testimonies of those who have fled villages around South Ossetia are consistent, but with all roads blocked and the Russian military now in charge of the area, the scale of alleged reprisal killings and lootings is difficult to verify."

The Independent reported an account of looters whom a witness claimed were irregular Chechen paramilitaries" Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Rashid Nurgaliev said there would be "decisive and tough" measures taken against looters. According to Russia's Interfax, two looters were executed by firing squad in South Ossetia on August 13.

The Washington Post reported that "fields were on fire" on August 13, but a Russian general in Gori claimed the fires were merely "a farming technique". A Daily Telegraph report said fire could be seen raging though hillside farms on August 14 while "drunk" South Ossetian irregulars engaged in carjackings. The Telegraph also reported that the irregulars "continued to loot and pillage in Gori and nearby Georgian villages, often with the encouragement of Russian troops."

In a report released on August 15, Human Rights Watch said it has collected evidence of Russian warplanes using cluster bomb against civilian areas in Georgia. The international rights group urged Russia to stop using the weapons, which 107 nations have agreed to outlaw. Later, Russian General Staff Deputy Chief Anatoly Nogovitsyn, stated: "We never use cluster bombs. There is no need to do so."

Also on August 15, the United Nations said 118 000 had been displaced in the conflict and said "large parts of the conflict-affected area, particularly South Ossetia and the Gori region, remain, for the most part, inaccessible to humanitarian organizations due to ongoing insecurity, lawlessness and other constraints." A Wall Street Journal report described how three staffers of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees were carjacked at a Russian checkpoint near Gori. According to RIA Novosti, South Ossetia president Eduard Kokoity said in Moscow that no "international observers" would be allowed in South Ossetia.

Aid

On August 8, The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations sent a mobile hospital to North Ossetia. On August 9, Russian Prime Minister Putin promised to spend at least 10 bln rubles (approx. $420 million USD) to reconstruct the infrastructure and facilities in South Ossetia.

On August 11, the Russian Interfax News Agency said that Russia sent 120 tons of food to South Ossetia and 17 tons of medicine to prevent humanitarian catastrophe. Russia said it plans to send a humanitarian aid convoy with 200 tons of food, 16 tons of medical supplies, six electricity generators and water filters, from Russia's North Ossetian city of Vladikavkaz to Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, the Emergency Situation Minister said on August 10. The Russian government additionally allocated $200 million in urgent aid for South Ossetia, to tackle the growing humanitarian catastrophe, according to Russia's envoy to NATO.

On August 12, the Romanian Supreme Council of National Defense decided to send humanitarian aid to Georgia, consisting of drugs and medical equipment.

President Bush (center) announcing the planned U.S. delivery of aid to Georgia, headed by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (right)

On August 13, United States President George W. Bush said the U.S. would send humanitarian aid to Georgia. A U.S. military cargo plane arrived in Georgia that day. Another military plane will arrive in Tbilisi with "104,000 doses of antibiotics requested by the Georgian Ministry of Health." The two shipments are together valued at $1.28 million.

Canada has pledged $1 million in aid, Germany $1.5 million. France will send "30 metric tons of supplies." Spain is working with the Red Cross to help refugees, and has contributed €0.5 million in aid. Australia has offered Georgia $1 million dollars in humanitarian aid.[2]

From Latvia, "A cargo of humanitarian aid of medical items from state reserves consisting of 4,000 containers of blood products and 20,000 gauze bandages to the value of 20,000 lats (€ 14,000) was sent to Georgia on 12 August. In addition, the Government allocated 100,000 lats (€ 70,000) from contingency resources to assist Georgia in overcoming the consequences of the war. " Lithuania has thus far given to Georgia 86,000 euros' worth of aid in sleeping bags and medical supplies. Estonia and Poland have sent, in addition to humanitarian aid, computer experts to fend off cyberattacks. On August 11 it was reported that Russia was blocking Georgian medical staff from entering Tskhinvali..

Reactions to the conflict

International reactions

File:Destroyed building in Tshinvali 2008.jpg

A destroyed building in Tskhinvali

Main article: International reaction to the 2008 South Ossetia war

See also: Protests regarding 2008 South Ossetia war

Financial market reaction

The effect of the war on the Russian financial markets was first noticed on the stock market benchmark index RTS which fell 6% by 8 August 2008 at 12:45 GMT in its lowest level (1,732.26) since May 2007, including blue chips such as Lukoil Holdings shares, and Russian analysts expect the fall to continue for some time but then to rise upwards again, recovering losses. The Russian ruble also fell by 1% relative to a basket of currencies.

The Georgian financial markets also suffered negative consequences as Fitch Ratings lowered Georgia's debt ratings from BB- to B+, commenting that there are increased risks to Georgian sovereign creditworthiness, while Standard and Poor's also lowered Georgian credit ratings.

Map of Baku-Supsa and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipelines through Georgia

While Georgia has no significant oil or gas reserves on its own, it is an important transit route that supplies the West, and journalists expressed fear that the war may damage the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, 30% of which is owned by BP. The BTC pipeline was shut down before the conflict because of the blast in Turkey on 6 August 2008, and the war created further problems for the operating company. Georgia claims Russia is targeting the pipeline. On 8 August 2008, Russian air forces devastated the port of Poti, which the Georgian government calls "a key port for the transportation of energy sources," close to the Baku-Supsa pipeline and the Supsa oil terminal. On 12 August 2008, BP, an operator of the main pipelines through Georgia, closed the BTC pipeline, the Baku-Supsa Pipeline and the South Caucasus Pipeline for the safety reasons. > Gas supplies through the South Caucasus Pipeline were resumed on 14 August 2008.

The price of oil was not negatively affected by these events, on 8 August 2008 light sweet crude for September delivery settled down $4.82 to $115.20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Allegations of media bias

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin accused foreign media of pro-Georgian bias in their coverage of the ongoing conflict between Georgia and Russia over breakaway South Ossetia. "We want television screens in the West to be showing not only Russian tanks, and texts saying Russia is at war in South Ossetia and with Georgia, but also to be showing the suffering of the Ossetian people, the murdered elderly people and children, the destroyed towns of South Ossetia, and Tskhinvali. This would be an objective way of presenting the material," he said in a statement to Russian news agencies. Current Western media coverage of the events in the separatist republic is "a politically motivated version" in the eyes of government officials.

On August 11, 2008, the government-funded Russia Today TV channel accused CNN of presenting video footage made by Russia Today in South Ossetia as pictures of bombed Gori. The Western media has defended its coverage, with Chris Birkett, executive editor of Sky News saying: "I don't think there’s been a bias. Accusations of media bias are normal in times of war. We’ve been so busy with the task of newsgathering and deployment that the idea we've managed to come up with a conspiratorial line in our reporting is bananas." CNN has also defended its coverage.

William Dunbar, a reporter for Russia Today in Georgia, resigned in protest of bias in the Russian media. He claimed he had not been on air since he mentioned Russian bombing of targets inside Georgia. He told The Moscow Times: "The real news, the real facts of the matter, didn't conform to what they were trying to report, and therefore, they wouldn't let me report it. I felt that I had no choice but to resign." However one senior journalist from Russia Today called Dunbar's allegations of bias "nonsense". "The Russian coverage I have seen has been much better than much of the Western coverage,” he said, adding, "My view is that Russia Today is not particularly biased at all. When you look at the Western media, there is a lot of genuflection towards the powers that be. Russian news coverage is largely pro-Russia, but that is to be expected."

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the Russian death toll figure of 2,000 unfounded, citing a doctor who said that between August 6 to 12 the hospital treated 273 wounded, more military than civilian. The doctor also said that 44 bodies had been brought to the hospital since the fighting began, both military and civilian. According to HRW, "the doctor was adamant that the majority of people killed in the city had been brought to the hospital before being buried".Anna Neistat, leader of a HRW team investigating the humanitarian damage in South Ossetia, told the Guardian that

HRW investigators had... recorded cases of Ossetian fighters burning and looting Georgian villages north of the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali. "The torching of houses in these villages is in some ways a result of the massive Russia propaganda machine which constantly repeats claims of genocide and exaggerates the scale of casualties... That is then used to justify retribution."

Human Rights Watch say their researchers "witnessed terrifying scenes of destruction in four villages that used to be populated exclusively by ethnic Georgians" and reported "armed Ossetian militia members in camouflage fatigues" taking household items out of houses in the village of Nizhnie Achaveti and loading them into their trucks. Explaining the looters' actions, "an Ossetian man" told Human Rights Watch, 'Of course, they are entitled to take things from Georgians now – because they lost their own property in Tskhinvali and other places.'".

The Bush administration has been reported to be attempting to turn a failed military operation by Georgia into a successful diplomatic operation against Russia. It is doing so by presenting the Russian actions as aggression and playing down the Georgian attack into South Ossetia on 7 August, which triggered the Russian operation. Yet the evidence from South Ossetia about that attack indicates that it was extensive and damaging. Most of the Western media is based in Georgia.

Cyberattacks and censorship

South Ossetian officials stated that two Ossetian news media sites were attacked. Dmitry Medoyev, the South Ossetian secessionist envoy in Moscow, claimed that Georgia was trying to cover up reports of deaths.

The National Bank of Georgia website was defaced and replaced with a gallery of 20th century dictators, with Saakashvili added. Georgian news portals were under Internet denial-of-service attacks and reportedly the site of the Georgian Ministry of Defense was attacked as well. The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs site was defaced and replaced with a collage of Saakashvili and Adolf Hitler photos. According to the New York Times, Georgian websites crashed frequently on 8 August.

The attacks are similar in nature to the 2007 cyberattacks on Estonia and were carried out with the same techniques. Estonian authorities have pledged to provide Georgia assistance in cyber-warfare. Estonia has sent to Georgia two specialists in information security from the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Estonia, and Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website is currently hosted on Estonian server. The Office of the President of Poland has provided the website for dissemination of information and helped to get access to the Internet for Georgia's government after breakdowns of local servers caused by cyberattacks.

Georgia had stopped broadcasting Russian television channels across the country. Web sites hosted on domains with addresses ending in .ru “were briefly blocked” from Georgia. Some pro-Russian sites in other zones were also reported to be blocked. Both actions were taken due to Georgia's belief that Russia was conducting an information war.

RIA Novosti news agency's website was disabled for several hours on August 10 by a series of computer cracker attacks. "The DNS-servers and the site itself have been coming under severe attack," said Maxim Kuznetsov, head of the RIA Novosti IT department. On August 11, Russia Today TV stated: "In the course of the last 24 hours RT’s website (www.russiatoday.com) has endured numerous DDoS attacks, which have made it unavailable for some time. Channel’s security specialists say the initial attack was carried out from an IP-address registered in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

Combatants

See also: Military of Georgia and Military of Russia

Military equipment

Georgian, Russian and South Ossetian forces are equipped with predominantly Soviet-made weapons, in particular, Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft, T-55 and T-72 tanks, and AK-74 rifles; however, Georgia has recently also been acquiring some western-made weaponry, including the UH-1 Iroquois helicopters and M4 Carbine rifles from the United States, 152mm SpGH DANA self-propelled guns and RM-70 Multiple rocket launchers from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Turkish Otokar Cobra armored vehicles, and German Heckler & Koch G36 and Israeli IMI Tavor TAR-21 rifles.

Georgia

Georgian order of battle

In the combat for Tskhinvali, Georgia reportedly committed several infantry battalions supported by T-72 tanks and artillery. The Georgian Air Force has also been engaged in the conflict.

All 2,000 Georgian troops in Iraq have redeployed to Georgia so that they can support requirements there during the current security situation. The troops and their equipment were transported by the United States Air Force using C-17 Globemaster aircraft. Georgia has 82 T-72 tanks.

Ukraine has supplied Georgia with many weapons. They reportedly sold AA missiles, and small arms. Exact numbers of the weapons supplied are not given.

Russia

Russian order of battle

File:Russian order of battle georgia 2008.jpg

Yamadaevtsy meeting Russian regular army

South Ossetian Sector

• Unnamed units formerly used for peacekeeping
• At least two strengthened battalions of 19th Motor Rifle Division (North Ossetia) of 58th Army.
• Units of Airborne Troops (VDV)
  • Units of 76th Airborne Division (Pskov)
  • Units of 98th Airborne Division (Ivanovo)
• Units of GRU (direct or operational subordination)
  • Spetsnaz of 45th Detached Reconnaissance Regiment of VDV (Moscow)
  • One company of Special Battalion Vostok of 42nd Motor Rifle Division (Chechnya)
  • One company of Special Battalion Zapad of 42nd Motor Rifle Division (Chechnya)

Abkhazian Sector

• Units of 131st Separate Motor-Rifle Brigade (formerly used for peacekeeping)
• Unnamed units of VDV
• Army (land and air forces) of Abkhazia
• Naval Task Force consisting of following units from the Black Sea Fleet
  • Slava Class Cruiser RFS Moskva
  • Kashin Class (Upgraded) Destroyer Smetlivy (Russian: Сметливый)
  • Alligator Class Landing Ships Saratov.
  • Ropucha-I Class Landing Ships Tsezar Kunikov and Yamal.
  • Grisha-V Anti-Submarine Corvettes Kasimov, Povarino and Suzdalets.
  • Nanuchka-III Class Corvette Mirazh.
  • Bora Class Missile Boat Samum
  • Moma Class Surveillance ship Ekvator.
  • Natya Class Minesweepers Zhukov and Turbinist.
  • Small Landing Ship Koida
  • Sorum Class Fleet Tug MB-31.

Air support

• Fighter, attack, bomber and reconnaissance aircrafts of 4th Air Army (acting over South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia)
• Unnamed transport aviation units used for air-lift of units of 76th and 98th Airborne Divisions, Spetsnaz of 45th Detached Reconnaissance Regiment to South Ossetia and unnamed units of VDV to Abkhazia

Other

• OTR-21 Tochka/SS-21 short-range ballistic missiles
• Russian news services, notably RTR Planeta, have reported wide-scoped assembly of Ossetian Narodnoe Opolcheniye being joined by volunteers from the Vladikavkaz region and other parts of Russia. The groups being formed at "various locations" are reported to range from "tens" to "hundreds." The members of these groups as shown on video reports are identified by white armbands, but appear to be otherwise clothed and equipped predominantly in Russian Army issue camouflage clothing and firearms. One such group in the Northern Ossetia has been formed on the Staff of North Ossetia okrug Cossack Voisko (Russian: штаб североосетинского округа казачьего войска).

Statements by involved parties

Georgia

File:Tbilisi-2008-08-12.jpg

Tbilisi demonstration protesting Russian intervention on August 12, 2008.

• Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili claimed the Russians conducted a "well-planned invasion"
• "A sniper war is ongoing against residents of the villages in the South Ossetian conflict zone and as I speak now intensive fire is ongoing from artillery, from tanks, from self-propelled artillery systems – which have been brought in the conflict zone illegally – and from other types of weaponry, including mortars and grenade launchers", Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in a live televised address made at 19:10 7 August local time.
• "This is about annihilation of a democracy on their borders," Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili told the BBC. "We on our own cannot fight with Russia. We want immediate cease-fire, immediate cessation of hostilities, separation of Russia and Georgia and international mediation."
• Georgia's Security Council secretary, Alexander Lomaia, said Saakashvili's proposal means that the Georgian troops will withdraw from Tskhinvali, the provincial capital of South Ossetia, and stop responding to Russian shelling.
• Russia has "started a full-scale military invasion" of Georgia, the country's UN Ambassador Irakli Alasania said in New York.
• "If this is not war, then I wonder what is," Georgia's ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Victor Dolidze, told a crisis meeting of the OSCE's permanent council in Vienna.
• Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili stated, "What Russia is doing in Georgia is open, unhidden aggression and a challenge to the whole world. If the whole world does not stop Russia today, then Russian tanks will be able to reach any other European capital." He argued Russia was attacking Georgia because "[Georgia] want[s] to be free and we want to be a multi-ethnic democracy."
• In an interview with CNN, Saakashvili said that Georgia and Russia were practically at war. "We have Russian tanks moving in," he said. "We have continuous Russian bombardment since yesterday ... specifically targeting the civilian population. Russia is fighting a war with us in our own territory." He told the BBC: "Our troops are attacked by thousands of troops coming in from Russia."

• On August 12, Georgia instituted proceedings before the International Court of Justice against the Russian Federation for "its actions on and around the territory of Georgia" from 1991 to 2008, in breach of the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

• On August 13, Georgia's Ministry of Defence reported on its web site that 4,600 Russian passports had been found in a Russian armed forces vehicle. These passports were said to have exhibited numerous irregularities — such as having consecutive serial numbers despite bearing different years of issuance — and none of them had been signed by their owners. Georgia suggested that this was evidence of a plan to increase the number of Russian "citizens" in South Ossetia in order to bolster Russia's claim that it was acting to protect its citizens.

• Also on August 13, Ex-President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze stated that "…Georgia should not have advanced into Tskhinvali in so unprepared a way. That was a grave error".

Russia

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a BBC interview: "Peace is required and that is what we are going to achieve but we would not go beyond this."
• Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said, "The actions of the Georgian powers in South Ossetia are, of course, a crime — first of all against their own people," and alleged Georgia was committing "complete genocide." Putin opined that the territorial integrity of Georgia has suffered a fatal blow. He later stated "the Georgian side was preparing aggression... Nobody was listening. And this is the result. We have finally come to it. However, Russia will of course carry out its peacekeeping mission to its logical end."
• Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he was ordering the military prosecutor to document crimes against civilians (by Georgia) in South Ossetia. He said "The actions of the Georgian side led to deaths - among them are Russian peacekeepers. The situation reached the point that Georgian peacekeepers have been shooting at Russian peacekeepers. Now women, children and old people are dying in South Ossetia - most of them are citizens of the Russian Federation. According to the constitution, I, as the President of the Russian Federation, must protect lives and the dignity of Russian citizens wherever they are. Those responsible for the deaths of our citizens will be punished. He said it aims to force Georgia to accept peace and restore the status quo, and it is acting within its peacekeeping mission in South Ossetia, and in line with the mandate issued by the international community.
• After the GMT 4:00 8 August UN Security Council meeting, Boris Malakhov, spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said he hoped it was still possible to prevent "mass bloodshed," adding, "It now became clear why the Georgian side was refraining under various pretexts from signing a legally binding document on non-use of force"
• Russian envoy Yuri Popov said Georgia's military operation showed it could not be trusted and NATO should reconsider its plans to grant membership to Georgia. Popov said, "Georgia's step is absolutely incomprehensible and shows the Georgian leadership has zero credit of trust." He called Georgia's behavior treacherous.
• In a letter to all NATO members, Ambassador of Russia to NATO Dmitry Rogozin stated Georgia had "got a permit to start a military operation" after the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest and warned against continued support of Georgia and its president.
• In North Ossetia's Vladikavkaz there were several demonstrations rallied by local Ossetians, with protesters shouting "Russia, save us!" and demanding the withdrawal of Georgian forces from South Ossetia.
• Chairman of Russia's State Duma Security Committee, Vladimir Vasiliyev, stated, "Georgia could have used the years of Saakashvili's presidency in different ways - to build up the economy, to develop the infrastructure, to solve social issues both in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and the whole state. Instead, the Georgian leadership with president Saakashvili undertook consistent steps to increase its military budget from US$30 million to $1 billion - Georgia was preparing for a military action."
• On 10 August 2008 Russian human rights commissioner (ombudsman) Vladimir Lukin called for creating an International Tribunal on South Ossetia. "That man who ordered a night attack on Tskhinvali is the main responsible person," he said.
• Vice Chairman of Russian parliament Vladimir Zhirinovsky in his speech on Echo Moskvy radio suggested bombing Tbilisi and bringing Saakashvili to trial, overthrowing his "fascist regime," as well as breaking all diplomatic and economic links with Georgia.
• [other reactions from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and deputy Foreign Minister incorporated into initial paragraphs]
• Russia also laid much of the responsibility for ending the fighting on the United States, which has trained Georgian troops. Moscow ignored the Bush administration’s statement about “significant long-term impact on the U.S.-Russia relations”. Washington has not condemned Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia. Israel, France, Ukraine, and other countries have also trained Georgian forces in the past.

Map of North and South Ossetia.

• The Communist Party of the Russian Federation "completely support actions of the (Russian) head of the state and the government against aggressor Mikheil Saakashvili" according to party leader Gennady Zyuganov. Zyuganov also criticized the U.S. and the European nations which have called for a cease-fire, because Zyuganov says they only "wish to protect the bloody dictator Saakashvili." Finally, the Russian government should recognize the independence of the Republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia according to Zyuganov.
• Mikhail Gorbachev, former head of state of the Soviet Union, in an op-ed in the U.S. newspaper The Washington Post blamed Georgia for starting the conflict: "the roots of this tragedy lie in the decision of Georgia's separatist leaders in 1991 to abolish South Ossetian autonomy... What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas. Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against 'small, defenseless Georgia' is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity."
• Sergei Lavrov said, on August 14th, that "One can forget about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity. It is impossible to persuade South Ossetia and Abkhazia to agree with the logic that they can be forced back into the Georgian state".

South Ossetia

• On 8 August, South Ossetia called on "the governments and peoples of the world" to recognise its independence: "For South Ossetia, there is only one path of life – the acceptance of its independence by the international community. We call on all self-respecting people of the planet to not be indifferent to the fate of the Ossetian nation."

Abkhazia

• Abkhaz Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Shamba called on the international community to prohibit Georgia from having its own armed forces. "Over the last hundred years Georgia has been an independent state for 21 years: from 1918 to 1921 and from 1990 till now. And during that time launched 7 wars," he said.

References

External links

• Georgian Ministry of Defense - site may be down due to cyber attack
• Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs - site may be down due to cyber attack
• President of Georgia
• State Committee of Information and Press of the Republic of South Ossetia Template:En icon
• Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Template:Ru icon
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Template:Ru icon
• UNOMIG (United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia)

Map resources

• Topographic maps of the region from Poyehali