Armed conflict in South Ossetia - military operations that unfolded in August 2008. On the one hand, Georgia participated in them, and on the other, the self-proclaimed republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Russia supported. The situation in this zone began to aggravate about a month before the hostilities. Active action began on the night of August 8. Russian troops were brought into the region, which for several days crowded the Georgian army units. The fighting continued until August 12. Then a conflict settlement plan was concluded. The 5-day war had huge economic geopolitical consequences. In particular, the process of Georgia’s entry into NATO was slowed down, diplomatic relations with Russia were severed, and the Russian Federation officially recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
How did it all start?
The armed conflict in South Ossetia has a great background. Its origins lie in the late 1980s, when activists of the Georgian independence movement intensified. This led to a deterioration in relations between them and national minorities living in the republic. First of all, Ossetians and Abkhazians. They had their own autonomous formations, demanded an increase in their status, and in the future, complete independence.
The South Ossetian Republic proclaimed its sovereignty in 1990. In response, Georgia completely abolished their autonomy, dividing the territory between its six administrative regions.
Soon, the political confrontation turned into an armed clash. Throughout 1991, there was virtually a war in South Ossetia. The conflict entered an active phase when Georgia cut off energy supply in the region. As a result, there were casualties among the civilian population, for example, several dozen people froze in a nursing home.
Georgian troops fired on Tskhinval. At the same time, the final result of this confrontation was affected by the problems in Georgia itself, which provoked a civil war.
In January 1992, a referendum was held, according to the results of which 98% of the population supported joining Russia. Despite this, the Georgian National Guard continued the siege of the largest cities of the rebel republics.
The fighting during the conflict in South Ossetia from 1991-1992 ceased after the conclusion of the Dagomys agreements. Russia and Georgia pledged to immediately begin the economic recovery of the region and create conditions for the return of refugees. Since then, peacekeepers have constantly been in the region.
During the conflict in South Ossetia, about one and a half thousand people were killed on each side.
Frozen conflict
After that, South Ossetia actually became an independent state, in 1993 it even adopted its own constitution. At the same time, the Georgian authorities did not agree with this, but did not take any active steps to establish control over this territory.
In the 90s, the population of South Ossetia actively received Russian citizenship. After Mikheil Saakashvili came to power, a course was announced to restore the territorial integrity of Georgia. In the summer of 2004, military clashes even took place, during which the Georgian army tried to establish control over the heights in the vicinity of Tskhinval, but to no avail.
In 2006, two parliamentary elections in South Ossetia were held simultaneously. On the lands under the control of the authorities of the self-proclaimed republic, Eduard Kokoity won, and a referendum was held here, in which the participants voted for independence. On the territory under the control of the Georgian authorities, Dmitry Sanakoev won. Both of them called the election of opponents rigged. The winners took the oath of allegiance to the Ossetian people, began to lay claim to the management of the entire territory of the region, accusing the opponents of collaboration.
Escalation of tension
Since the beginning of the year, when Saakashvili became president of Georgia, tension in the conflict zone has grown, and relations between Georgia and Russia have become strained. In particular, Georgian drones over the territory of the republics, which proclaimed independence, became more frequent. From March to May, 5 drones were shot down by the Russian Air Force, Saakashvili accused the Russian Federation of bombing in Georgia and preparing aggression.
Since April, airborne divisions have been stationed at the Georgian border as a reserve of peacekeeping forces. Soon it became known that Georgian troops were pulling together to the borders of South Ossetia.
Soon, units of the railway troops were redeployed to Abkhazia. The Georgian authorities considered this a preparation for military intervention.
In July, the Russian side held the Caucasus-2008 military exercises, and Georgia, together with the United States, conducted the “Immediate Response” exercises.
It is worth noting that the systematic deterioration of relations between the two countries has continued since 2004, when it became known about Georgia’s plans to join NATO. In Russia, they feared that local authorities would try to establish control over the region with the support of foreign peacekeepers. The media even mentioned the plan to seize the unrecognized republics, developed in 2006.
In spring, Russia, sending an additional contingent to Abkhazia, provoked a diplomatic conflict with Georgia, announcing that it was establishing direct diplomatic relations with the governments of both unrecognized republics. All this became the causes of the conflict in South Ossetia.
First strike
Who was the first to provoke this confrontation remains unknown. This is one of the most confusing moments in the conflict in South Ossetia in 2008.
According to official information, hostilities began on the night of August 8 after the shelling and assault of Tskhinval by Georgian troops. At the same time, shelling from both sides and armed clashes continued from the end of July. In addition, it is reliably known that Georgian villages were fired by artillery from the South Ossetian side.
Georgia regarded these actions as a violation of the 1992 armistice. This was another cause of the conflict in South Ossetia in 2008.
At the same time, regular shelling continued from the side of Georgia. Each side accused the other of violating the ceasefire. Russia entered the conflict on August 8. This happened after the announcement of the so-called peace enforcement operation. Some sources claim that Russian troops ended up in South Ossetia on August 7, that is, they crossed the border before the shelling of Tskhinval.
Declaration of war
The essence of the conflict in South Ossetia boiled down to the desire of Georgia to establish control over the region. Russia supported the unrecognized republics, not recognizing the independence of Georgia with the desire to join NATO, resisting this in every possible way.
In fact, the 2008 conflict in South Ossetia began with shelling of Tskhinval from Grad installations. The assault on the city with the participation of tanks began. Just a few minutes earlier, General Marat Kulakhmetov, Commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces, received a message from the Georgian Minister of Defense about the abolition of the ceasefire. He immediately reported this to the commander of the 58th Russian army, Anatoly Khrulev. In fact, this was regarded as Georgia’s declaration of war on South Ossetia.
Khrulev brought troops into combat readiness. In the area of the Roki Tunnel , two motorized rifle battalions with a total number of about 700 men were deployed. On the night of August 8, the commander of the Georgian armed forces Mamuk Kurashvili announced on national television that he decided to start a military operation. Official Tbilisi called its goal the restoration of constitutional order. The reason was the refusal of the Ossetian side to negotiate. Kurashvili turned to the Russian peacekeepers, urging them not to interfere in the situation.
8 August
The armed conflict in South Ossetia went into acute phase on August 8. At about 10 in the morning, Minister Temur Yakobashvili turned to Russia, urging her to intervene as a real peacemaker. He also said that at the moment, the Georgian army controls almost all the settlements of the self-proclaimed republic, except for Java and Tskhinval.
The Russian side announced a deliberate attack on the locations of the peacekeepers. As a result, about 10 military personnel were killed and several dozen people were injured. In turn, the Georgian side said that the peacekeepers, having violated their status, opened artillery fire on their positions.
These statements about the course of the armed conflict in South Ossetia were checked by an international commission to clarify the circumstances of the conflict. Her experts said they were unable to confirm the facts of the targeted shelling of Russian peacekeepers by Georgia, as well as the attack by the peacekeepers themselves. The fact of the destruction of peacekeeping posts was confirmed by the non-governmental international organization Human Rights Watch, which is engaged in documenting and investigating human rights violations in the world. At the same time, its representatives announced that they were not able to refute or confirm the facts of an intentional attack on the posts or firing by themselves.
The armed conflict in South Ossetia was announced publicly on the morning of August 8 when Russian aircraft launched a bombardment of targets on Georgian territory. The military claimed that only military targets were chosen as targets. These were the airfields of Marneuli and Vaziani, the base in Gori.
The military representative of Russia to the UN, Nikolai Uvarov, as the official representative of the Ministry of Defense, announced that the first unit of the Russian troops crossed the Roki tunnel at 14:30. According to Khrulev, this happened much earlier: at about 1:40 a.m.
At approximately 5:00 p.m., the head of the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eka Tkeshelashvili, turned to foreign countries with a request to exert pressure on Russia to urge her to stop military aggression in Georgian territory. Her colleague, Sergey Lavrov, countered this with a statement that Georgia had asked Russia in the morning to act as a peacemaker in the conflict in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. That is what, he said, is happening.
August 9th
On August 9, the transfer of Russian troops to the conflict zone was continued, and an attack group began to form. Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces Konashenkov said that units of the 58th Army are already on the outskirts of Tskhinval. They are preparing to enter into conflict at the location of Russian peacekeepers.
To participate in the armed conflict in South Ossetia in 2008, the 76th Airborne Division was deployed from Pskov.
On the afternoon of August 9, an attempt was made to release peacekeepers in Tskhinvali. However, the motorized rifle battalion failed. Upon entering the city, a group of Russian troops came across a Georgian army that stormed the Ossetian capital. After the collision, Russian troops were forced to retreat with losses. This battle in the framework of the military conflict in South Ossetia was widely covered in the media. Several Russian correspondents were injured. And without waiting for reinforcements, the Russian army retreated.
Throughout the day, the armed conflict in South Ossetia (2008) was overgrown with new details. The parties exchanged artillery strikes, Russian aviation continued to bomb Georgian territory.
Towards evening, Russian ships entered the territorial waters of Georgia, starting combat patrols. In Abkhazia, the landing of amphibious assaults started, parts of the airborne troops were transferred to Sukhumi airfield. It is believed that this was the most acute stage of the armed conflict in South Ossetia.
August 10-11
On August 10, the Russian-Georgian naval battle took place. The sea battle took place off the coast of Abkhazia as part of the conflict in South Ossetia (2008).
In the area of military patrols, Russian ships found five boats traveling at high speed. They could not be identified. They violated the border of the security zone, which Russia had previously announced, did not respond to warnings.
These turned out to be Georgian boats going to rapprochement with the ships of the Black Sea Fleet. At 18:39, sailors opened fire from anti-aircraft missile launchers. Next, the small missile ship Mirage launched two Malachite cruise missiles. Both hit the target, one boat sank.
After that, the remaining boats turned around, but at 18:50 one of them again went on a rapprochement. This time a missile was launched from the Osa-M anti-aircraft missile system . A boat of the Yaroslavets type also sank. This naval battle was the only battle on the water in the history of the conflict in South Ossetia. Much remains unclear, the Georgian side does not disclose any details.
On August 11, Russian troops crossed the border of the unrecognized republics, entering directly into the territory of Georgia. In particular, the city of Zugdidi was occupied without a fight. The retreating Georgian soldiers left Gori, the village of Khurcha was occupied, Russian units during the local conflict in South Ossetia were near the city of Senaki.
Truce
On August 12, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced the termination of the operation to force Georgia to peace, as it achieved a result.
After that, the President of France and EU President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Moscow on an official visit . In 2008, the conflict was entrusted to him by the international community to resolve the conflict in South Ossetia. At a meeting with Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, he agreed on the basic principles for a peaceful settlement of the situation.
These were: the renunciation of the use of force, the cessation of any military operations, the parties' access to humanitarian aid, the return of Georgian troops to their places of permanent deployment, the withdrawal of Russian units to positions that preceded the outbreak of hostilities. Finally, the start of a large-scale discussion at the international level of the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
After that, Sarkozy flew to Tbilisi to Saakashvili.
After this, minor clashes continued for several days. On August 16, 2008, the conflict in South Ossetia was officially terminated. On this day, Medvedev signed a peace plan, he was previously approved by Saakashvili and the leaders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Effects
As a result of the armed conflict in South Ossetia, relations between the parties were completely ruined. Moreover, the confrontation acquired a predominantly diplomatic and political character, having begun to develop in the sphere of international politics.
On August 14, Georgian deputies unanimously decided to leave the country from the CIS. On August 26, Dmitry Medvedev signed decrees recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Commenting on his actions for foreign journalists, he noted that this decision was forced, and he had no purpose to quarrel with the Western powers that supported Georgia. The initiative was supported by few. In addition to it, the independence of the republics was recognized only by Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru.
In January 2009, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution condemning Russia's decision to recognize the independence of these republics. They were also denied observer status in the European Union.
The economic consequences of the conflict in South Ossetia were significant for all parties. In September 2008, it became known that America allocated humanitarian aid to Georgia in the amount of one billion dollars (this is approximately 66 billion rubles), and also promised to facilitate investment in their economy, expanding access to the American market for Georgian goods. A month later, Western countries agreed on the allocation of another four and a half billion dollars (almost 300 billion rubles) to Georgia for the period until 2010 as assistance to overcome the consequences of the conflict. Two billion are presented as a grant. The remaining money was given at a low interest rate as a long-term loan. Most reputable experts believe that this was the main reason that saved the economy of this country from collapse.
In turn, Russia provided financial assistance to South Ossetia. From 2008 to 2010, about 30 billion rubles were allocated. , , 52 - . . , - 280 . . . , .
The armed conflict had a direct impact on Russia's accession to the WTO, effectively postponing it for an indefinite period. Protecting its own economic interests, Georgia, which by that time was already a member of the WTO, stated that in the current geopolitical conditions, Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization is unacceptable. One of the stumbling blocks was the issue of cargo control at checkpoints in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Georgian side insisted that international observers be obligatory present in the customs inspection zones. Russia suggested limiting itself only to providing information on what cargoes and to what extent passed through checkpoints.
Only in October 2011 did the parties come to a compromise. As a result, under pressure from the European Union, it was decided to enter Russia into the WTO.
The short conflict in South Ossetia had an impact on Russian domestic politics. During the fighting, involuntarily, journalists and experts had to wonder who is now the main one in the Kremlin: the new president, Dmitry Medvedev, or former leader Vladimir Putin, who sat in the prime minister’s chair. Opinion polls recorded a significant increase in the Russian population of anti-liberal, chauvinistic and anti-Western sentiments.
Despite the defeat in the conflict, Saakashvili’s position in Georgia only strengthened. Experts wrote that the Georgians rallied in the face of the aggressor, in which Russia was perceived. At the same time, opposition politicians, for example, Nino Burjanadze, accused the president of Russian bombing of Senaki and Poti, and tanks standing in Gori. Moscow's decision to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was condemned by the international community.
At the same time, the conflict revealed the deplorable state in which the Russian army was. For example, reporters wrote how Army General Khrulev asked correspondents for a satellite editorial phone to contact the troops. By that time, the domestic GLONASS system had not yet been fully launched. As a result, the military was left without navigation when the Americans turned off GPS.
In October 2008, a massive reform of the Russian army was announced.