Georgian-Ossetian conflict
Encyclopedia
The Georgian–Ossetian conflict refers to the ethno-political conflict in Georgia's
autonomous region of South Ossetia
, which evolved in 1989 and developed into a 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. Despite a declared ceasefire
and numerous peace efforts, the conflict remains unresolved, and minor armed incidents persist. In August 2008, diplomatic tensions and clashes between Georgia and South Ossetia erupted into the 2008 South Ossetia war
.
controlled, while the Bolshevik
s took control of Russia. In June 1920, a Russian-sponsored Ossetian force attacked the Georgian Army and People's Guard. The Georgian's responded vigorously and defeated the insurgents, with several Ossetian villages being burnt down and 20,000 Ossetians displaced in Soviet Russia. Eight months later, the Red Army successfully invaded
Georgia and in 1922 the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
was created.
In the late 1980s, when the perestroika
policy initiated by Premier Mikhail Gorbachev
, caused rising nationalism
in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) and the country moved towards independence, it was opposed by the Ossetian nationalistic organization, Ademon Nykhas (Popular Front). Created in 1988, Ademon Nykhas demanded greater autonomy for the region and finally, unification with Russia’s North Ossetia. On November 10, 1989, the South Ossetian Supreme Soviet
approved a decision to unite South Ossetia with the North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
, part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
. However, a day later, the Georgian SSR Supreme Soviet revoked the decision and on 23 November, thousands of Georgian nationalists led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia
and other opposition leaders marched to Tskhinvali
, the South Ossetian capital, to hold a meeting there. The Ossetians mobilized blocking the road and only the interference of Soviet Army
units avoided a clash between the two demonstrations. The Soviet commanders made the Georgian demonstrators turn back. However, several people were wounded in subsequent clashes between Georgians and Ossetians.
By the beginning of 1990 South Ossetian forces had 300-400 poorly armed fighters, however their number grew to about 1,500 in six-months time. The main source of small arms for South Ossetian militias was the Soviet Army helicopter regiment based in Tskhinvali. Ethnic Georgians in neighbouring villages also organised a self-defence force known as the Merab Kostava Society. Rivalling militias engaged in sporadic low-level fighting.
The Georgian Supreme Council adopted a law barring regional parties in the summer of 1990. This was interpreted by Ossetians as a move against Ademon Nykhas and on September 20, 1990, the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast declared independence as the South Ossetian Democratic Soviet Republic, appealing to Moscow to recognise it as an independent subject of the Soviet Union
. When the election of the Georgian Supreme Council took place in October 1990, it was boycotted by the South Ossetians. On December 10, 1990, South Ossetia
held its own elections, declared illegal by Georgia. A day later, the Georgian Supreme Soviet cancelled the results of the Ossetian elections and abolished South Ossetian autonomy.
On December 11, 1990, several bloody incidents occurred in and around Tskhinvali
. The Georgian government declared a state of emergency
in the districts of Tskhinvali
and Java
on December 12. Georgian police and National Guards units were dispatched in the region to disarm Ossetian armed groups.
At the time of the dissolution of the USSR, the United States government recognised as legitimate
the pre-Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
1933 borders of the country (the Franklin D. Roosevelt
government established diplomatic relations with the Kremlin at the end of that year). Because of this, the George H. W. Bush
administration openly supported the restoration of independence of the Baltic SSRs
, but regarded the questions relating to the independence and territorial conflicts of Georgia
, Armenia
, Azerbaijan
and the rest of the Transcaucasus — which were integral part of the USSR with international borders unaltered since the 1920s — as internal Soviet affairs.
and then the Menshevik
-dominated Democratic Republic of Georgia
which claimed several thousand lives.
The Ossetian–Georgian tensions escalated into a 1991–1992 war which killed some 1,000 people.
sides began Russian and OSCE
-mediated negotiations on peaceful resolution of the conflict
on October 30, 1995. The major break through in negotiation happened in May 1996 when the two sides signed a 'Memorandum on measures for providing security and joint confidence' in which the two sides renounced the use of force in future. This was followed up by several meetings between then-President of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze
, and de facto President of South Ossetia
Ludwig Chibirov
, and their respective heads of governments.
Refugees resettled in the zone of conflict but still only in small numbers, the major obstacle being the economic situation in the region. Numerous small steps of co-operation between Georgians and Ossetians took place.
During this time there was an absence of central control over the region. The Ergneti market on the outskirts of Tskhinvali
was a large trade hub through which smuggling lost Georgia significant revenue. This trade increased support for the breakaway Kokoity regime. The unresolved conflict encouraged development of such illegal activities as kidnapping, drug-trafficking and arms trading.
A brief military clash occurred in August 2004. After several days of fighting, negotiations brought an uneasy peace.
When Mikheil Saakashvili was elected President in 2003, he made his goals clear to return the two breakaway regions of Georgia
under central control. He chose NATO, especially the U.S. as his key allies in foreign policy, in exchange he received financial and material support from western countries. U.S. advisers started to train Georgian forces to make them professional in unequal style fighting against militants under the aegis of "War on Terrorism
". Georgia became the third largest participant of U.S. coalition in terms of numbers after U.S. and U.K.. Georgia received free weapons from U.S., Israel, Germany, and Baltic states. The country's military budget, replenished with U.S. aid, increased steadily since Saakashvili's entering to office. In this situation, tensions between Georgia and its breakaway republics were on the rise.
In May 2004, following the success in another poorly-controlled province of Ajara (the Ajars are closer to ethnic Georgians), President Mikheil Saakashvili
’s government turned their attention to South Ossetia
. In 2005 Saakashvili offered humanitarian aid to both the Georgian and Ossetian
population and promised to give the region broad autonomy.
In mid-June, Georgian police shut down the Ergneti market, which was a major trading point for tax-free goods from Russia. These Georgian actions made the situation more tense. In retaliation, South Ossetian forces closed the highway between Russia and Georgia for several days. Georgia's regional administration began to restore the roads between Georgian-populated Patara Liakhvi and Didi Liakhvi gorges by-passing separatist-controlled capital Tskhinvali
and dispatched military patrols to control them.
On July 7, Georgian peacekeepers intercepted a Russian convoy, which led to tensions between Tbilisi
and Moscow. The next day, around 50 Georgian policemen were disarmed and detained by the South Ossetia
n militias.
In retaliation, Saakashvili refused to attend peace talks. Large numbers of Georgians moved into the border areas, and there was frequent artillery fire for several days. The Georgian soldiers captured were all released on July 9, with three exceptions.
Tensions between Tbilisi
and Moscow continued to worsen when the Russian Duma
passed a resolution supporting the South Ossetia
n secessionists. The fellow unrecognized states Abkhazia
and Transnistria
, Cossack
communities of Russia and the North Ossetians promised to support South Ossetia if Georgia attacked. Hundreds of Russian volunteers, mainly Cossacks, arrived in South Ossetia to defend the separatist government.
A ceasefire deal was reached on August 13, after three nights of gun and mortar fire. The agreement was signed by the Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania
and South Ossetian de facto President Eduard Kokoity
. However, the agreement was violated shortly after the signing. The bloodiest clashes occurred on August 18 and August 19. On August 19, after overnight fighting with several killed and wounded on the both sides, Georgian forces seized several strategic hills near the Ossetian village of Trianakhana, that were held by dug-in South Ossetian forces supported by Russian Cossack volunteers. However, shortly after the successful operation, President Mikheil Saakashvili
announced that Georgia would give "a last chance for peace" to the South Ossetians and added that Tbilisi
would pull out its non-peacekeeping troops from the conflict zone in exchange for peace. Georgian troops handed over the strategic hilltops in the conflict zone to the joint peacekeeping forces later that day. As reported, 16 Georgians and dozens of Ossetian and Russian volunteers lost their lives during the August fighting.
At a high level meeting between Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania
and South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity
on November 5 in Sochi
, Russia, an agreement on demilitarization of the conflict zone was signed. Sporadic exchanges of fire continued in the zone of conflict, however.
presented a new vision for resolving the South Ossetian conflict at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) session in Strasbourg
, on January 26, 2005. His proposal included broader forms of autonomy, including a constitutional guarantee of free and directly elected local self-governance. Saakashvili stated that South Ossetia's parliament would have control over issues such as culture, education, social policy, economic policy, public order, organization of local self-governance and environmental protection. At the same time South Ossetia
would have a voice in the national structures of government as well, with a constitutional guarantee of representation in the judicial and constitutional-judicial branches and in the Parliament. Georgia would commit to improving the economic and social conditions of South Ossetian inhabitants. Saakashvili proposed a transitional 3-year conflict resolution period, during which time mixed Georgian and Ossetian police forces, under the guidance and auspices of international organizations, would be established and Ossetian forces would gradually be integrated into a united Georgian Armed Forces. Saakashvili also said that the international community should play a more "significant" and "visible" role in solving this conflict.
helicopter carrying Defense Minister of Georgia, Irakli Okruashvili
, and the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Georgian armed forces, when it flew over the separatist-held territory. Although the South Ossetian authorities reported that the Georgian helicopter was "shot down", it was only slightly damaged and landed safely in Georgian government-controlled territory. Later, the South Ossetian officials confirmed their troops were responsible for the attack, saying that the entering of the Georgian helicopter to Ossetian air space is "clear provocation", but rejected the claim that the aircraft was targeted because of prior intelligence that Okruashvili was on board.
On October 31, 2006, the South Ossetian police reported a skirmish in the Java
, Georgia
district in which they killed a group of 4 men. The weapons seized from the group included assault rifles, guns, grenade launchers, grenades and explosive devices. Other items found in the militants' possession included extremist Islamic literature, maps of Java district and sets of Russian peacekeeping uniforms. Those findings led the South Ossetian authorities to conclude that the militants were planning to carry out acts of sabotage, thus raising tensions ahead of the independence referendum
scheduled for November 12 , 2006. The South Ossetian authorities identified the men as Kist
Chechens, many of whom live in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge
. South Ossetia has accused Georgia of hiring the Chechen mercenaries to carry out terrorist attacks in the region. Russia has previously accused Georgia of harbouring Chechen separatists in the gorge.
The Georgian side flatly denied its involvement in the incident. Shota Khizanishvilia, a spokesperson for the Georgian Interior Ministry, supposed that the incident could be connected to "internal conflicts in South Ossetia".
as de facto president and voted for independence from Georgia. In the areas under Georgia's control, the Ossetian opposition, with unofficial backing from Tbilisi, organized rival polls electing Dmitry Sanakoyev
, the former premier in the secessionist government, as an "alternative president" and voted for negotiations with Georgia on a future federal agreement. Both Tskhinvali and Moscow denounced the move as Georgia's attempt to install "a puppet government" in the conflict zone.
. The next day, Sanakoyev addressed the Parliament of Georgia
, outlining his vision of the conflict resolution plan (full text). This move earned approval from the United States State Department, but alarmed the de facto authorities in Tskhinvali. The South Ossetian separatists threatened to oust Sanakoyev’s government by force. However, this met with Russia's disapproval.
On July 24, 2007, Tbilisi held its first state commission to define South Ossetia's status within the Georgian state. Chaired by Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli
, the commission included ruling National Movement Party lawmakers, an opposition party member, civil society advocates, Dmitry Sanakoyev, and representatives of the Ossetian community in Georgia. Georgian officials announced that they would welcome the involvement of Kokoity's envoys, but the Tskhinvali government refused to participate. In response, Sanakoyev's supporters launched a campaign "Kokoity Fanderast" or "Kokoity Farewell" in Ossetic.
. Georgian officials said that two Russian fighter jets violated its airspace and fired a missile, targeting a nearby Georgian radar outpost. Russian and South Ossetian authorities accused Georgia of staging a false flag operation in order to provoke tension in the region. Two investigative groups from NATO countries - Shaakasvili's key allies - reported that the jet entered Georgian airspace from Russia, but Russian officials rejected this conclusion, citing their own investigation.
On the night of June 14 into the early morning of June 15, 2008, mortar fire and an exchange of gunfire were reported between South Ossetian and Georgian forces. South Ossetia reported that mortar fire was launched from Georgian-controlled villages on Tshinkvali, the South Ossetian capital, and that their forces came under fire from Georgian forces on the outskirts of the capital. Georgia denies firing the first shot claiming instead that South Ossetia had attacked the Georgian-controlled villages. Russian, Georgian, and North Ossetia peacekeepers as well as OSCE
monitors went to the site of the clashes, but it was not determined who fired the first shot. One person was killed and four wounded during the violence.
A South Ossetian police official was killed in a bomb attack on July 3, 2008 and this was followed by an intense exchange of gun fire. Later a convoy carrying the leader of the Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian provisional administration, Dmitry Sanakoyev
, was attacked and three of his security guards injured. On July 4, 2008 two people were killed as a result of shelling and shooting in Tskhinvali and some villages in South Ossetia. The South Ossetian Press and Information Committee reported that a South Ossetian militiaman had been killed and another injured in an attack on a police post in the village of Ubia and this was followed by the shelling of Tskhinvali, which resulted in the death of one man. The shelling reportedly involved the use of mortars and grenade launchers. Georgia claimed it had opened fire in response to the shelling by South Ossetian militiamen of Georgian-controlled villages. South Ossetia called up military reservists and put its security forces on alert in response to the clashes. The head of Russia's peacekeeping troops in the region was quoted as saying extra soldiers could be deployed if the stand-off worsened. South Ossetia warned it would move heavy weaponry into the conflict zone with Georgia if attacks on the republic were not stopped.
The Georgian Ministry of Defense said on July 7, 2008 a group of up to ten militiamen were apparently prevented from placing mines on a Georgian-controlled by-pass road linking the Georgian villages in the north of Tskhinvali with the rest of Georgia. The Georgian side opened fire and the group was forced to retreat towards the nearby South Ossetian-controlled village. On July 8, 2008 South Ossetia reported that it had detained four "officers from the artillery brigade of the Georgian Ministry of Defense" close to the village of Okona in the Znauri district at the administrative border the night before. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told police to prepare an operation to free the four soldiers, but they were released before an operation was launched.
Russian military jets flew into Georgian airspace through South Ossetia on July 9, 2008 and then returned to Russia. The next day, the Russian authorities confirmed the flight and said, in an official statement, that the fighters were sent to prevent Georgia from launching an operation to free the four soldiers detained by South Ossetia. In response, Georgia recalled its ambassador to Moscow "for consultations", stating that it was "outraged by Russia's aggressive policies."
The incident coincided with the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
to Tbilisi where she pledged the U.S. support for Georgia's bid to join NATO. She said that granting NATO Membership Action Plan to Georgia would help resolve the Abkhaz and South Ossetian problems. The statement caused a negative outcry in Moscow: the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov
responded, during his meeting with the de facto Abkhaz president Sergey Bagapsh, that Georgia’s NATO integration process "may undermine the conflict resolution" process. On July 11, 2008, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze
called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting on the conflict zones.
A South Ossetian envoy on July 11, 2008 declared that South Ossetia was capable of repelling any attack by Georgia without help from Moscow and also said the mainly Russian peacekeeping contingent in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone should be increased. The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement the same day that measures have been taken "to increase combat readiness" of the Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in Abkhazia. It also said that security had been tightened at the Russian peacekeepers’ base camps, observation posts and checkpoints, and "additional training" of the peacekeeping personnel had been conducted "to explain regulations of use of firearm while on duty." Nika Rurua
, Deputy Head of the Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, warned that Georgia would shoot down Russia’s military aircraft in case they appear in its airspace again and an initiative was considered to this effect, but decided instead to appeal to the world community on the matter. Media reports published information about Russia’s alleged plans to seize the Kodori Gorge specifying that the details of the operation were worked out by Russian high-ranking military officials, with Abkhazia’s President Sergey Bagapsh. Russia reportedly considered responding by revealing the details of a planned military invasion of South Ossetia by Georgia to release their detained officers.
On July 14, 2008 Georgia's deputy defense minister Batu Kutelia said Georgia plans to expand its military more than 15 percent to 37,000 soldiers following events in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The additional manpower would be used to defend Georgia's airspace and the Black Sea coast. On July 15, 2008 the U.S. and Russia both began exercises in the Caucasus though Russia denies the timing was intentional. The Russian exercises included training to support peacekeepers in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia claimed the exercises were a manifestation of Russian aggression against it.
The US exercises were part of "Exercise Immediate Response 2008"and included forces from the United States, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. 1,000 US troops were involved, in addition to the 127 trainers already in Georgia. The exercise concluded August 7. On August 6 the Georgian Defense Ministry announced a two week exercise, "Georgian Express 2008", would take place with 180 British military personnel, starting in September.
Also on July 15, Abkhazia and South Ossetia were said to be planning to join the Union of Russia and Belarus
, a spokesman for the Union said both regions have talked about joining the Union, but that they would need to be recognized as independent and become observers before they could join the Union as members.
According to media reports, on July 19, 2008 a Georgian police post was attacked by Abkhaz militias using grenades; one of the militiamen died from a grenade exploding accidentally. Abkhaz officials condemned the reports as false. Georgian media also reported on July 19 that a battalion of Russian troops had moved into the lower Kodori Gorge. Georgia's Defense Ministry claimed Russian troops encroached on Mamison and Roksky passes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia respectively and are in combat alert. Abkhazia's Foreign Minister said no new troops were brought in over the quota.
A U.N. report issued July 23, 2008 on the period between April and July 2008 noted discrepancies with the Georgian attack of a shooting in Khurcha on the day of Georgian elections. In particular the report noted the way the incident was filmed suggested the attack was anticipated. The report said reconnaissance flights by Georgia were a violation of the ceasefire, but said the shooting down of those fights also constituted a breach of the ceasefire. Concerning a military buildup by Georgia the UN report said it found no evidence of a buildup but noted observers were denied access to certain areas of Abkhazia controlled by Georgia including the Kvabchara Valley.
On July 28, 2008 a spokesman for the Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia said South Ossetian forces had blocked peacekeepers and OSCE observers from the village of Cholibauri which is close to where Georgia says South Ossetia is building fortifications. On July 29, 2008 South Ossetia said two South Ossetian villages had been fired on by Georgian forces in response to South Ossetia reinforcing its positions on the perimeter of the conflict zone. Georgia said the same day that Georgian posts on the Sarabuki heights were attacked by South Ossetian forces with no injuries reported.
On August 1 Joint Peacekeeping Forces (JPKF) observers from all three sides and OSCE representatives were investigating a bomb attack which had occurred around 8:05am local time and injured two police officers, reported JPKF commander on media issues Captain Vladimir Ivanov. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs declared that in the attack 5 police officers had been injured by two remote control explosive devices. Sporadic fighting continued every day and on August 6, there were further shootouts and Georgia acknowledged it had lost an Armoured personnel carrier
(APC) during the clashes. After a night of gunfire in which four people died, shelling resumed at daybreak on August 7. Residents were on the move, evacuating vulnerable areas of the South Ossetian capital. Georgia was reportedly moving tanks, artillery and troops to the border with South Ossetia.
However, at the end of the day, Mikhail Saakashvili ordered a unilateral cease-fire. "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 from mortars and grenade launchers," Saakashvili said in a live televised address made at 7:10pm local time on August 7.
Georgia suspended this unilateral ceasefire claiming that sniper attacks and other military actions were ongoing against Georgian villages on both sides of the official frontier. Saakashvili claims that in the night from 7th to 8 August 150 Russian tanks crossed the border into Georgia through the Roki-Tunnel. On 8 August, the starting day of Beijing Olympics, Georgia launched a military offensive to "restore constitutional order in the whole region." Georgia started a full-scale attack on the breakaway republic overnight, using tanks, aircraft, heavy artillery and infantry." Media sources reported that Georgian MRLS
started shelling separatist capital, Tskhinvali. South Ossetian authorities and others accused Georgia of committing "planned massacre of Ossetian civilian population: children, elderly and young women". The Tshinvali's central hospital, university and some of its schools were also hit.
Georgian military forces attacked suddenly with the strong support of heavy artillery (BM-21
122 mm (5 in) and 152 mm), tanks, and aircraft.
According to Human Rights Watch
(HRW) Annual Report, during the military conflict on Georgian military used indiscriminate force against civilian population of South Ossetia tanks and machine gun fire at buildings in Tskhinvali, including at apartment buildings where civilians sheltered. the Georgian military used Grad multiple rocket launchers, an indiscriminate weapon, to destroy targets situated in civilian areas. HRW
claims. Georgian side admitted using claster bombs, but only vs Russian troops entering Roki tunnel.
HRW further reports that both Georgians and Russians used cluster bombs of the types M85S and RBK 250, resulting in civilian casualties. Georgia admits using cluster bombs against Russian troops and the Roki tunnel but is accused of also hitting civilians fleeing from the battle zone. Russia denies the use of cluster bombs, but is accused of having used them in its attacks against Gori and Ruisi.
The Russian military is also accused of using indiscriminate force in attacks in South Ossetia and in the Gori district, and has apparently targeted convoys of civilians attempting to flee the conflict zones.
According to Russian authorities in North Ossetia, part of Russian Federation, 34'000 refugees arrived to Russia from South Ossetia from 2 for 9 August.
On August 29, two soldiers serving with the Russian North Ossetian peacekeeping battalion were arrested by Georgian police in the border zone for the "illegal detention" of 4 journalists and three other people, including a 13-year-old boy. They were sentenced to pre-trial custody for two months by a court in Mtskheta, a town close to Tbilisi, on August 30, creating a diplomatic row between Tbilisi and Moscow.
In mid-October 2008, South Ossetian police were given orders to return fire should they be on the receiving end of a firing from the Georgian side. This was seen as directive that could increase the threat of new violence. South Ossetia's top police official issued this order in response to a police post coming under automatic weapons fire from an ethnic Georgian village. The acting Interior Minister Mikhail Mindzayev said nobody was hurt by the gunfire, although he did refer to is as a series of provocations by Georgians forces.
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
autonomous region of South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
, which evolved in 1989 and developed into a 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. Despite a declared ceasefire
Ceasefire
A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces...
and numerous peace efforts, the conflict remains unresolved, and minor armed incidents persist. In August 2008, diplomatic tensions and clashes between Georgia and South Ossetia erupted into the 2008 South Ossetia war
2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
.
Origins of the conflict
The conflict between Georgian and Ossetians dates back until at least 1918. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, Georgia stayed MenshevikMenshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
controlled, while the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s took control of Russia. In June 1920, a Russian-sponsored Ossetian force attacked the Georgian Army and People's Guard. The Georgian's responded vigorously and defeated the insurgents, with several Ossetian villages being burnt down and 20,000 Ossetians displaced in Soviet Russia. Eight months later, the Red Army successfully invaded
Red Army invasion of Georgia
The Red Army invasion of Georgia also known as the Soviet–Georgian War or the Soviet invasion of Georgia was a military campaign by the Soviet Russian Red Army against the Democratic Republic of Georgia aimed at overthrowing the Social-Democratic government and installing the Bolshevik regime...
Georgia and in 1922 the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union created within the Georgian SSR on April 20, 1922. Its autonomy was revoked on December 10, 1990 by the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR, leading to the First South Ossetian War...
was created.
In the late 1980s, when the perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
policy initiated by Premier Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, caused rising nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) and the country moved towards independence, it was opposed by the Ossetian nationalistic organization, Ademon Nykhas (Popular Front). Created in 1988, Ademon Nykhas demanded greater autonomy for the region and finally, unification with Russia’s North Ossetia. On November 10, 1989, the South Ossetian Supreme Soviet
Supreme Soviet
The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was the Supreme Soviet in the Soviet Union and the only one with the power to pass constitutional amendments...
approved a decision to unite South Ossetia with the North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
The North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union. Currently it is known as North Ossetia-Alania, a federal subject of Russia....
, part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
. However, a day later, the Georgian SSR Supreme Soviet revoked the decision and on 23 November, thousands of Georgian nationalists led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia was a dissident, scientist and writer, who became the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era...
and other opposition leaders marched to Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali , is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, and is regarded by Georgia and the rest of the world as part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.It is located...
, the South Ossetian capital, to hold a meeting there. The Ossetians mobilized blocking the road and only the interference of Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
units avoided a clash between the two demonstrations. The Soviet commanders made the Georgian demonstrators turn back. However, several people were wounded in subsequent clashes between Georgians and Ossetians.
By the beginning of 1990 South Ossetian forces had 300-400 poorly armed fighters, however their number grew to about 1,500 in six-months time. The main source of small arms for South Ossetian militias was the Soviet Army helicopter regiment based in Tskhinvali. Ethnic Georgians in neighbouring villages also organised a self-defence force known as the Merab Kostava Society. Rivalling militias engaged in sporadic low-level fighting.
The Georgian Supreme Council adopted a law barring regional parties in the summer of 1990. This was interpreted by Ossetians as a move against Ademon Nykhas and on September 20, 1990, the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast declared independence as the South Ossetian Democratic Soviet Republic, appealing to Moscow to recognise it as an independent subject of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. When the election of the Georgian Supreme Council took place in October 1990, it was boycotted by the South Ossetians. On December 10, 1990, South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
held its own elections, declared illegal by Georgia. A day later, the Georgian Supreme Soviet cancelled the results of the Ossetian elections and abolished South Ossetian autonomy.
On December 11, 1990, several bloody incidents occurred in and around Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali , is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, and is regarded by Georgia and the rest of the world as part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.It is located...
. The Georgian government declared a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
in the districts of Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali , is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, and is regarded by Georgia and the rest of the world as part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.It is located...
and Java
Java, Georgia
Java or Dzau is a town of approximately 1,500 people in South Ossetia. According to Georgia's current official administrative division, Java is a main town of Java district in the north of Shida Kartli region. According to the South Ossetian side Dzau is an administrative center of Dzau district...
on December 12. Georgian police and National Guards units were dispatched in the region to disarm Ossetian armed groups.
At the time of the dissolution of the USSR, the United States government recognised as legitimate
Stimson Doctrine
The Stimson Doctrine is a policy of the United States federal government, enunciated in a note of January 7, 1932, to Japan and China, of non-recognition of international territorial changes that were executed by force. The doctrine was an application of the principle of ex injuria jus non oritur...
the pre-Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
1933 borders of the country (the Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
government established diplomatic relations with the Kremlin at the end of that year). Because of this, the George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
administration openly supported the restoration of independence of the Baltic SSRs
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
, but regarded the questions relating to the independence and territorial conflicts of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
and the rest of the Transcaucasus — which were integral part of the USSR with international borders unaltered since the 1920s — as internal Soviet affairs.
1918–1920 South Ossetia conflict
The Georgian–Ossetian conflict (1918–1920) comprised a series of uprisings, which took place in the Ossetian-inhabited areas of what is now South Ossetia, a breakaway republic in Georgia, against the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative RepublicTranscaucasian Democratic Federative Republic
The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic , was a short-lived state composed of the modern-day countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in the South Caucasus.-...
and then the Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
-dominated Democratic Republic of Georgia
Democratic Republic of Georgia
The Democratic Republic of Georgia , 1918–1921, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia.The DRG was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917...
which claimed several thousand lives.
The 1991–1992 South Ossetia War
Georgian–Ossetian conflictsThe ceasefire
Georgian and OssetianOssetian
Ossetian may refer to:* The Ossetian language* A member of the Ossetian people* A person from the region of Ossetia...
sides began Russian and OSCE
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...
-mediated negotiations on peaceful resolution of the conflict
Sochi agreement
The Sochi agreement was a ceasefire agreement ostensibly marking the end of the both the Georgian–Ossetian and Georgian–Abkhazian conflicts, signed in Sochi on June 24, 1992 between Georgia and South Ossetia, the ceasefire with Abkhazia on...
on October 30, 1995. The major break through in negotiation happened in May 1996 when the two sides signed a 'Memorandum on measures for providing security and joint confidence' in which the two sides renounced the use of force in future. This was followed up by several meetings between then-President of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
, and de facto President of South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
Ludwig Chibirov
Ludwig Chibirov
Lyudvig Alekseyevich Chibirov was the Chairman of the Parliament and later, following inaugural elections the first President of South Ossetia. Born in 1932, Chibirov is a former member of the South Ossetian Parliament. Prior to the elections in 1996, he had been South Ossetia's head of state...
, and their respective heads of governments.
Refugees resettled in the zone of conflict but still only in small numbers, the major obstacle being the economic situation in the region. Numerous small steps of co-operation between Georgians and Ossetians took place.
During this time there was an absence of central control over the region. The Ergneti market on the outskirts of Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali , is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, and is regarded by Georgia and the rest of the world as part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.It is located...
was a large trade hub through which smuggling lost Georgia significant revenue. This trade increased support for the breakaway Kokoity regime. The unresolved conflict encouraged development of such illegal activities as kidnapping, drug-trafficking and arms trading.
The 2004 flare-up
When Mikheil Saakashvili was elected President in 2003, he made his goals clear to return the two breakaway regions of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
under central control. He chose NATO, especially the U.S. as his key allies in foreign policy, in exchange he received financial and material support from western countries. U.S. advisers started to train Georgian forces to make them professional in unequal style fighting against militants under the aegis of "War on Terrorism
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
". Georgia became the third largest participant of U.S. coalition in terms of numbers after U.S. and U.K.. Georgia received free weapons from U.S., Israel, Germany, and Baltic states. The country's military budget, replenished with U.S. aid, increased steadily since Saakashvili's entering to office. In this situation, tensions between Georgia and its breakaway republics were on the rise.
In May 2004, following the success in another poorly-controlled province of Ajara (the Ajars are closer to ethnic Georgians), President Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...
’s government turned their attention to South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
. In 2005 Saakashvili offered humanitarian aid to both the Georgian and Ossetian
Ossetian
Ossetian may refer to:* The Ossetian language* A member of the Ossetian people* A person from the region of Ossetia...
population and promised to give the region broad autonomy.
In mid-June, Georgian police shut down the Ergneti market, which was a major trading point for tax-free goods from Russia. These Georgian actions made the situation more tense. In retaliation, South Ossetian forces closed the highway between Russia and Georgia for several days. Georgia's regional administration began to restore the roads between Georgian-populated Patara Liakhvi and Didi Liakhvi gorges by-passing separatist-controlled capital Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali , is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, and is regarded by Georgia and the rest of the world as part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.It is located...
and dispatched military patrols to control them.
On July 7, Georgian peacekeepers intercepted a Russian convoy, which led to tensions between Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
and Moscow. The next day, around 50 Georgian policemen were disarmed and detained by the South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
n militias.
In retaliation, Saakashvili refused to attend peace talks. Large numbers of Georgians moved into the border areas, and there was frequent artillery fire for several days. The Georgian soldiers captured were all released on July 9, with three exceptions.
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
and Moscow continued to worsen when the Russian Duma
Duma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
passed a resolution supporting the South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
n secessionists. The fellow unrecognized states Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
and Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
, Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
communities of Russia and the North Ossetians promised to support South Ossetia if Georgia attacked. Hundreds of Russian volunteers, mainly Cossacks, arrived in South Ossetia to defend the separatist government.
A ceasefire deal was reached on August 13, after three nights of gun and mortar fire. The agreement was signed by the Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania
Zurab Zhvania
Zurab Zhvania was a prominent Georgian politician, having served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia as well as Minister without Portfolio. Zhvania assumed premiership on 18 February 2004 and remained on the position until his death on 3 February 2005...
and South Ossetian de facto President Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Dzhabeyevich Kokoity is the de facto President of South Ossetia.-Early life:Eduard Kokoity was born on 31 October 1964 in Tskhinvali, in the Georgian SSR, a part of the Soviet Union at the time. Kokoity was a member, and champion, of the Soviet Union's national wrestling team...
. However, the agreement was violated shortly after the signing. The bloodiest clashes occurred on August 18 and August 19. On August 19, after overnight fighting with several killed and wounded on the both sides, Georgian forces seized several strategic hills near the Ossetian village of Trianakhana, that were held by dug-in South Ossetian forces supported by Russian Cossack volunteers. However, shortly after the successful operation, President Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...
announced that Georgia would give "a last chance for peace" to the South Ossetians and added that Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
would pull out its non-peacekeeping troops from the conflict zone in exchange for peace. Georgian troops handed over the strategic hilltops in the conflict zone to the joint peacekeeping forces later that day. As reported, 16 Georgians and dozens of Ossetian and Russian volunteers lost their lives during the August fighting.
At a high level meeting between Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania
Zurab Zhvania
Zurab Zhvania was a prominent Georgian politician, having served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia as well as Minister without Portfolio. Zhvania assumed premiership on 18 February 2004 and remained on the position until his death on 3 February 2005...
and South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Dzhabeyevich Kokoity is the de facto President of South Ossetia.-Early life:Eduard Kokoity was born on 31 October 1964 in Tskhinvali, in the Georgian SSR, a part of the Soviet Union at the time. Kokoity was a member, and champion, of the Soviet Union's national wrestling team...
on November 5 in Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
, Russia, an agreement on demilitarization of the conflict zone was signed. Sporadic exchanges of fire continued in the zone of conflict, however.
New peace efforts
Georgian President Mikheil SaakashviliMikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...
presented a new vision for resolving the South Ossetian conflict at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
(PACE) session in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, on January 26, 2005. His proposal included broader forms of autonomy, including a constitutional guarantee of free and directly elected local self-governance. Saakashvili stated that South Ossetia's parliament would have control over issues such as culture, education, social policy, economic policy, public order, organization of local self-governance and environmental protection. At the same time South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
would have a voice in the national structures of government as well, with a constitutional guarantee of representation in the judicial and constitutional-judicial branches and in the Parliament. Georgia would commit to improving the economic and social conditions of South Ossetian inhabitants. Saakashvili proposed a transitional 3-year conflict resolution period, during which time mixed Georgian and Ossetian police forces, under the guidance and auspices of international organizations, would be established and Ossetian forces would gradually be integrated into a united Georgian Armed Forces. Saakashvili also said that the international community should play a more "significant" and "visible" role in solving this conflict.
2006 attack on a Georgian helicopter
On September 3, 2006, the South Ossetian forces opened fire at a Georgian MI-8Mil Mi-8
The Mil Mi-8 is a medium twin-turbine transport helicopter that can also act as a gunship. The Mi-8 is the world's most-produced helicopter, and is used by over 50 countries. Russia is the largest operator of the Mi-8/Mi-17 helicopter....
helicopter carrying Defense Minister of Georgia, Irakli Okruashvili
Irakli Okruashvili
Irakli Okruashvili is a Georgian politician who had served on various important posts in the Government of Georgia under President Mikheil Saakashvili, including being the Minister of Defense from December 2004 until being dismissed in November 2006.In September 2007, Okruashvili staged a...
, and the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Georgian armed forces, when it flew over the separatist-held territory. Although the South Ossetian authorities reported that the Georgian helicopter was "shot down", it was only slightly damaged and landed safely in Georgian government-controlled territory. Later, the South Ossetian officials confirmed their troops were responsible for the attack, saying that the entering of the Georgian helicopter to Ossetian air space is "clear provocation", but rejected the claim that the aircraft was targeted because of prior intelligence that Okruashvili was on board.
2006 October incident
Java, Georgia
Java or Dzau is a town of approximately 1,500 people in South Ossetia. According to Georgia's current official administrative division, Java is a main town of Java district in the north of Shida Kartli region. According to the South Ossetian side Dzau is an administrative center of Dzau district...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
district in which they killed a group of 4 men. The weapons seized from the group included assault rifles, guns, grenade launchers, grenades and explosive devices. Other items found in the militants' possession included extremist Islamic literature, maps of Java district and sets of Russian peacekeeping uniforms. Those findings led the South Ossetian authorities to conclude that the militants were planning to carry out acts of sabotage, thus raising tensions ahead of the independence referendum
South Ossetian independence referendum, 2006
South Ossetia, an independent partially recognized republic in the South Caucasus, formerly the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic with its capital in Tskhinvali, held a referendum on independence on November 12, 2006...
scheduled for November 12 , 2006. The South Ossetian authorities identified the men as Kist
Kist people
The Kists are a Nakh-speaking ethnic group in Georgia related to the Chechen and Ingush peoples. They primarily live in the Pankisi Gorge, in the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti, where their total number is approximate to 5,000 people.-Origins:...
Chechens, many of whom live in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge
Pankisi Gorge
The Pankisi Gorge or Pankisi is a valley region in Georgia, in the northeastern corner of the country, bordering the Chechnyan republic of the Russian Federation. Administratively, it is included in the Akhmeta district of the Kakheti region...
. South Ossetia has accused Georgia of hiring the Chechen mercenaries to carry out terrorist attacks in the region. Russia has previously accused Georgia of harbouring Chechen separatists in the gorge.
The Georgian side flatly denied its involvement in the incident. Shota Khizanishvilia, a spokesperson for the Georgian Interior Ministry, supposed that the incident could be connected to "internal conflicts in South Ossetia".
Rival elections of 2006
On November 12, 2006, two rival elections and simultaneous referendums were held in South Ossetia. The separatist-controlled part of the region reelected Eduard KokoityEduard Kokoity
Eduard Dzhabeyevich Kokoity is the de facto President of South Ossetia.-Early life:Eduard Kokoity was born on 31 October 1964 in Tskhinvali, in the Georgian SSR, a part of the Soviet Union at the time. Kokoity was a member, and champion, of the Soviet Union's national wrestling team...
as de facto president and voted for independence from Georgia. In the areas under Georgia's control, the Ossetian opposition, with unofficial backing from Tbilisi, organized rival polls electing Dmitry Sanakoyev
Dmitry Sanakoyev
Dmitry Ivanovich Sanakoyev is a South Ossetian and Georgian politician, a former official in the secessionist government of South Ossetia and currently Head of the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia, a rival entity established in 2007 in the Georgian-controlled territories of this...
, the former premier in the secessionist government, as an "alternative president" and voted for negotiations with Georgia on a future federal agreement. Both Tskhinvali and Moscow denounced the move as Georgia's attempt to install "a puppet government" in the conflict zone.
Georgia's new initiative
On May 10, 2007, Tbilisi-backed Dmitry Sanakoyev was appointed as head of the South Ossetian Provisional Administrative Entity by the President of GeorgiaPresident of Georgia
The President of Georgia is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Government of Georgia. Executive power is split between the President and the Prime Minister, who is the head of government...
. The next day, Sanakoyev addressed the Parliament of Georgia
Parliament of Georgia
Parliament of Georgia is the supreme legislature of Georgia. It is unicameral and has 150 members, known as deputies, from which 75 members are proportional representatives and 75 are elected through single-member district plurality system, representing their constituencies...
, outlining his vision of the conflict resolution plan (full text). This move earned approval from the United States State Department, but alarmed the de facto authorities in Tskhinvali. The South Ossetian separatists threatened to oust Sanakoyev’s government by force. However, this met with Russia's disapproval.
On July 24, 2007, Tbilisi held its first state commission to define South Ossetia's status within the Georgian state. Chaired by Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli
Zurab Noghaideli
Zurab Noghaideli is a Georgian businessman and a politician who served as the Prime Minister of Georgia from February 2005 until he resigned, citing health problems, on 16 November 2007...
, the commission included ruling National Movement Party lawmakers, an opposition party member, civil society advocates, Dmitry Sanakoyev, and representatives of the Ossetian community in Georgia. Georgian officials announced that they would welcome the involvement of Kokoity's envoys, but the Tskhinvali government refused to participate. In response, Sanakoyev's supporters launched a campaign "Kokoity Fanderast" or "Kokoity Farewell" in Ossetic.
Tsitelubani missile incident 2007
On August 7, 2007, a missile landed, but did not explode, in the Georgian-controlled village of Tsitelubani, some 65 km (40 mi) north of TbilisiTbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
. Georgian officials said that two Russian fighter jets violated its airspace and fired a missile, targeting a nearby Georgian radar outpost. Russian and South Ossetian authorities accused Georgia of staging a false flag operation in order to provoke tension in the region. Two investigative groups from NATO countries - Shaakasvili's key allies - reported that the jet entered Georgian airspace from Russia, but Russian officials rejected this conclusion, citing their own investigation.
2008 clashes
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...
monitors went to the site of the clashes, but it was not determined who fired the first shot. One person was killed and four wounded during the violence.
A South Ossetian police official was killed in a bomb attack on July 3, 2008 and this was followed by an intense exchange of gun fire. Later a convoy carrying the leader of the Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian provisional administration, Dmitry Sanakoyev
Dmitry Sanakoyev
Dmitry Ivanovich Sanakoyev is a South Ossetian and Georgian politician, a former official in the secessionist government of South Ossetia and currently Head of the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia, a rival entity established in 2007 in the Georgian-controlled territories of this...
, was attacked and three of his security guards injured. On July 4, 2008 two people were killed as a result of shelling and shooting in Tskhinvali and some villages in South Ossetia. The South Ossetian Press and Information Committee reported that a South Ossetian militiaman had been killed and another injured in an attack on a police post in the village of Ubia and this was followed by the shelling of Tskhinvali, which resulted in the death of one man. The shelling reportedly involved the use of mortars and grenade launchers. Georgia claimed it had opened fire in response to the shelling by South Ossetian militiamen of Georgian-controlled villages. South Ossetia called up military reservists and put its security forces on alert in response to the clashes. The head of Russia's peacekeeping troops in the region was quoted as saying extra soldiers could be deployed if the stand-off worsened. South Ossetia warned it would move heavy weaponry into the conflict zone with Georgia if attacks on the republic were not stopped.
The Georgian Ministry of Defense said on July 7, 2008 a group of up to ten militiamen were apparently prevented from placing mines on a Georgian-controlled by-pass road linking the Georgian villages in the north of Tskhinvali with the rest of Georgia. The Georgian side opened fire and the group was forced to retreat towards the nearby South Ossetian-controlled village. On July 8, 2008 South Ossetia reported that it had detained four "officers from the artillery brigade of the Georgian Ministry of Defense" close to the village of Okona in the Znauri district at the administrative border the night before. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told police to prepare an operation to free the four soldiers, but they were released before an operation was launched.
Russian military jets flew into Georgian airspace through South Ossetia on July 9, 2008 and then returned to Russia. The next day, the Russian authorities confirmed the flight and said, in an official statement, that the fighters were sent to prevent Georgia from launching an operation to free the four soldiers detained by South Ossetia. In response, Georgia recalled its ambassador to Moscow "for consultations", stating that it was "outraged by Russia's aggressive policies."
The incident coincided with the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
to Tbilisi where she pledged the U.S. support for Georgia's bid to join NATO. She said that granting NATO Membership Action Plan to Georgia would help resolve the Abkhaz and South Ossetian problems. The statement caused a negative outcry in Moscow: the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov
Sergey Lavrov
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov is the Foreign Minister of Russia. Prior to that, Lavrov was a Soviet diplomat and Russia's ambassador to the United Nations from 1994 to 2004. Lavrov speaks Russian, English, French and Sinhala....
responded, during his meeting with the de facto Abkhaz president Sergey Bagapsh, that Georgia’s NATO integration process "may undermine the conflict resolution" process. On July 11, 2008, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze
Grigol Vashadze
Grigol Vashadze is a Georgian politician, diplomat and a member of the Cabinet of Georgia in the capacity of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Georgia. From 2 November 2008 until 10 December of the same year Vashadze briefly served as the Minister for Culture, Heritage Preservation and Sport...
called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting on the conflict zones.
A South Ossetian envoy on July 11, 2008 declared that South Ossetia was capable of repelling any attack by Georgia without help from Moscow and also said the mainly Russian peacekeeping contingent in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone should be increased. The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement the same day that measures have been taken "to increase combat readiness" of the Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in Abkhazia. It also said that security had been tightened at the Russian peacekeepers’ base camps, observation posts and checkpoints, and "additional training" of the peacekeeping personnel had been conducted "to explain regulations of use of firearm while on duty." Nika Rurua
Nika Rurua
Nikoloz "Nika" Rurua is a Georgian politician, and a member of the Cabinet of Georgia in the capacity of Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia, appointed on December 10, 2008....
, Deputy Head of the Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, warned that Georgia would shoot down Russia’s military aircraft in case they appear in its airspace again and an initiative was considered to this effect, but decided instead to appeal to the world community on the matter. Media reports published information about Russia’s alleged plans to seize the Kodori Gorge specifying that the details of the operation were worked out by Russian high-ranking military officials, with Abkhazia’s President Sergey Bagapsh. Russia reportedly considered responding by revealing the details of a planned military invasion of South Ossetia by Georgia to release their detained officers.
On July 14, 2008 Georgia's deputy defense minister Batu Kutelia said Georgia plans to expand its military more than 15 percent to 37,000 soldiers following events in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The additional manpower would be used to defend Georgia's airspace and the Black Sea coast. On July 15, 2008 the U.S. and Russia both began exercises in the Caucasus though Russia denies the timing was intentional. The Russian exercises included training to support peacekeepers in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia claimed the exercises were a manifestation of Russian aggression against it.
The US exercises were part of "Exercise Immediate Response 2008"and included forces from the United States, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. 1,000 US troops were involved, in addition to the 127 trainers already in Georgia. The exercise concluded August 7. On August 6 the Georgian Defense Ministry announced a two week exercise, "Georgian Express 2008", would take place with 180 British military personnel, starting in September.
Also on July 15, Abkhazia and South Ossetia were said to be planning to join the Union of Russia and Belarus
Union of Russia and Belarus
The Union State , semi-officially known as Union State of Russia and Belarus , is a supranational entity consisting of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.- Creation :...
, a spokesman for the Union said both regions have talked about joining the Union, but that they would need to be recognized as independent and become observers before they could join the Union as members.
According to media reports, on July 19, 2008 a Georgian police post was attacked by Abkhaz militias using grenades; one of the militiamen died from a grenade exploding accidentally. Abkhaz officials condemned the reports as false. Georgian media also reported on July 19 that a battalion of Russian troops had moved into the lower Kodori Gorge. Georgia's Defense Ministry claimed Russian troops encroached on Mamison and Roksky passes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia respectively and are in combat alert. Abkhazia's Foreign Minister said no new troops were brought in over the quota.
A U.N. report issued July 23, 2008 on the period between April and July 2008 noted discrepancies with the Georgian attack of a shooting in Khurcha on the day of Georgian elections. In particular the report noted the way the incident was filmed suggested the attack was anticipated. The report said reconnaissance flights by Georgia were a violation of the ceasefire, but said the shooting down of those fights also constituted a breach of the ceasefire. Concerning a military buildup by Georgia the UN report said it found no evidence of a buildup but noted observers were denied access to certain areas of Abkhazia controlled by Georgia including the Kvabchara Valley.
On July 28, 2008 a spokesman for the Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia said South Ossetian forces had blocked peacekeepers and OSCE observers from the village of Cholibauri which is close to where Georgia says South Ossetia is building fortifications. On July 29, 2008 South Ossetia said two South Ossetian villages had been fired on by Georgian forces in response to South Ossetia reinforcing its positions on the perimeter of the conflict zone. Georgia said the same day that Georgian posts on the Sarabuki heights were attacked by South Ossetian forces with no injuries reported.
2008 War in South Ossetia
On August 1 Joint Peacekeeping Forces (JPKF) observers from all three sides and OSCE representatives were investigating a bomb attack which had occurred around 8:05am local time and injured two police officers, reported JPKF commander on media issues Captain Vladimir Ivanov. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs declared that in the attack 5 police officers had been injured by two remote control explosive devices. Sporadic fighting continued every day and on August 6, there were further shootouts and Georgia acknowledged it had lost an Armoured personnel carrier
Armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
(APC) during the clashes. After a night of gunfire in which four people died, shelling resumed at daybreak on August 7. Residents were on the move, evacuating vulnerable areas of the South Ossetian capital. Georgia was reportedly moving tanks, artillery and troops to the border with South Ossetia.
However, at the end of the day, Mikhail Saakashvili ordered a unilateral cease-fire. "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 from mortars and grenade launchers," Saakashvili said in a live televised address made at 7:10pm local time on August 7.
Georgia suspended this unilateral ceasefire claiming that sniper attacks and other military actions were ongoing against Georgian villages on both sides of the official frontier. Saakashvili claims that in the night from 7th to 8 August 150 Russian tanks crossed the border into Georgia through the Roki-Tunnel. On 8 August, the starting day of Beijing Olympics, Georgia launched a military offensive to "restore constitutional order in the whole region." Georgia started a full-scale attack on the breakaway republic overnight, using tanks, aircraft, heavy artillery and infantry." Media sources reported that Georgian MRLS
Multiple rocket launcher
A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system. Like other rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers are less accurate and have a much lower rate of fire than batteries of traditional artillery guns...
started shelling separatist capital, Tskhinvali. South Ossetian authorities and others accused Georgia of committing "planned massacre of Ossetian civilian population: children, elderly and young women". The Tshinvali's central hospital, university and some of its schools were also hit.
Georgian military forces attacked suddenly with the strong support of heavy artillery (BM-21
BM-21
The BM-21 launch vehicle , a Soviet truck-mounted 122 mm multiple rocket launcher, and a M-21OF rocket were developed in the early 1960s. BM stands for boyevaya mashina, ‘combat vehicle’, and the nickname means ‘hail’. The complete system with the BM-21 launch vehicle and the M-21OF rocket...
122 mm (5 in) and 152 mm), tanks, and aircraft.
According to Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
(HRW) Annual Report, during the military conflict on Georgian military used indiscriminate force against civilian population of South Ossetia tanks and machine gun fire at buildings in Tskhinvali, including at apartment buildings where civilians sheltered. the Georgian military used Grad multiple rocket launchers, an indiscriminate weapon, to destroy targets situated in civilian areas. HRW
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
claims. Georgian side admitted using claster bombs, but only vs Russian troops entering Roki tunnel.
HRW further reports that both Georgians and Russians used cluster bombs of the types M85S and RBK 250, resulting in civilian casualties. Georgia admits using cluster bombs against Russian troops and the Roki tunnel but is accused of also hitting civilians fleeing from the battle zone. Russia denies the use of cluster bombs, but is accused of having used them in its attacks against Gori and Ruisi.
The Russian military is also accused of using indiscriminate force in attacks in South Ossetia and in the Gori district, and has apparently targeted convoys of civilians attempting to flee the conflict zones.
According to Russian authorities in North Ossetia, part of Russian Federation, 34'000 refugees arrived to Russia from South Ossetia from 2 for 9 August.
After the 2008 war
On August 26, 2008, Russia officially recognized both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.On August 29, two soldiers serving with the Russian North Ossetian peacekeeping battalion were arrested by Georgian police in the border zone for the "illegal detention" of 4 journalists and three other people, including a 13-year-old boy. They were sentenced to pre-trial custody for two months by a court in Mtskheta, a town close to Tbilisi, on August 30, creating a diplomatic row between Tbilisi and Moscow.
- On September 10, a Georgian policeman was killed allegedly by Russian soldiers in a village north of Gori.
- On September 13, a Georgian policeman was killed on the border between Abkhazia and Georgia.
- On September 21, a Georgian policeman was killed and three wounded on the border between Abkhazia and Georgia.
- On September 22, two Georgian policemen were wounded by a mine on the border between Abkhazia and Georgia.
- On September 25, a 13-year-old South Ossetian resident was killed when an explosive device blew up on the outskirts of Tskhinvali.
- On October 6, an Abkhaz border guard was shot and killed on the border between Abkhazia and Georgia, allegedly by Georgian police commandos.
- On October 18, Georgian media reported that a bridge in the Adzva village in the Gori district was partly blown up by alleged Ossetian militia.
- On October 25, a bomb exploded in the Georgian town of Muzhava near the border with Abkhazia killing a villager and the mayor of the town, Gia Mebonia.
In mid-October 2008, South Ossetian police were given orders to return fire should they be on the receiving end of a firing from the Georgian side. This was seen as directive that could increase the threat of new violence. South Ossetia's top police official issued this order in response to a police post coming under automatic weapons fire from an ethnic Georgian village. The acting Interior Minister Mikhail Mindzayev said nobody was hurt by the gunfire, although he did refer to is as a series of provocations by Georgians forces.
- On April 23, 2009, shooting took place on the border between Georgia and South Ossetia. Both sides reported automatic small arms fire, and blamed each other for the incident.
- On 1 August 2009, Georgia fired two mortar shots upon a South Ossetian Defense Ministry observation outpost from the Georgian community of Ditsi bordering on the Ossetian village of Eredvi, according to South Ossetian Deputy Defense Minister Ibragim Gasseyev. Georgia had previously opened fire on the South Ossetian territory several times in the past few days. The EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) said its patrols on the ground have seen no evidence to confirm that any firing has taken place. However, the monitors said that four explosions took place on the South Ossetian side of the administrative border, but causes were not known.
- On 4 August 2009, it was reported that tensions were rising before the war's first anniversary on 7 August. The European Union urged "all sides to refrain from any statement or action that may lead to increased tensions at this particularly sensitive time."
See also
- South Ossetian independence referendum, 2006South Ossetian independence referendum, 2006South Ossetia, an independent partially recognized republic in the South Caucasus, formerly the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic with its capital in Tskhinvali, held a referendum on independence on November 12, 2006...
- International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia independence
- Ossetian-Ingush conflict
- Georgian Civil WarGeorgian Civil WarThe Georgian Civil War consisted of inter-ethnic and intranational conflicts in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia , as well as the violent military coup d'etat of December 21, 1991 - January 6, 1992 against the first democratically elected President of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia and his...
- Politics of Georgia
External links
- http://www.caucasus.dk/chapter4.htm
- http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav110404.shtml
- http://www.mfa.gov.ge/news.php?newsid=updates/EEpFVVEZEEGOWuWwJQ.php
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/3797729.stm
- President Saakashvili’s Proposals