Russo-Georgian War Tskhinvali

a building in city after battle of tskhinvali. august 18, 2008

in late june, 2008 russian military expert pavel felgenhauer predicted vladimir putin start war against georgia in abkhazia , south ossetia supposedly in august. kavkaz center reported in july chechen separatists had intelligence data russia preparing military operation against georgia in august–september 2008 aimed expel georgian forces kodori gorge; followed expulsion of georgian military , population south ossetia.

at 8:00 am on 1 august, georgian police vehicle blown improvised explosive device on road near tskhinvali, injuring 5 georgian policemen. in response, georgian snipers assaulted of south ossetian border checkpoints, killing 4 ossetians , injuring seven.

ossetian separatists began intensively shelling georgian villages on 1 august, sporadic response georgian peacekeepers , other troops in region. during night of 1/2 august, grenades , mortar fire exchanged. number of ossetian casualties rose 6 , number of injured fifteen, including several civilians; georgian casualties 6 injured civilians , 1 injured policeman.

the russian deputy defence minister, nikolay pankov, had secret meeting separatist authorities in tskhinvali on 3 august. evacuation of ossetian women , children russia began on same day. according researcher andrey illarionov, south ossetian separatists evacuated more 20,000 civilians, represented more 90 percent of civilian population of future combat zone.

on 4 august, south ossetian president eduard kokoity said 300 volunteers had arrived north ossetia fight georgians , thousands more expected north caucasus. on 5 august, georgian authorities organised tour journalists , diplomats demonstrate damage supposedly caused separatists. day, russian ambassador-at-large yuri popov declared country intervene on side of south ossetia. destruction of village of nuli ordered south ossetian interior minister mindzaev. 50 russian journalists had arrived in tskhnivali. waiting happen . pro-government russian newspaper reported on 6 august: don cossacks prepare fight in south ossetia .

mortar , artillery exchange between south ossetian , georgian forces erupted in afternoon of 6 august along entire line of contact, lasted until dawn of 7 august. exchanges resumed following brief gap in morning. @ 14:00 on 7 august, 2 georgian peacekeepers killed in avnevi result of ossetian shelling. @ 14:30, georgian tanks, 122 mm howitzers , 203 mm self-propelled artillery began heading towards south ossetia dissuade separatists additional attacks. during afternoon, osce monitors recorded georgian military traffic, including artillery, on roads near gori. in afternoon, georgian personnel left joint peacekeeping force headquarters in tskhinvali.

tskhinvali shelled georgian government on 8 august 2008 bm-21 grad mobile artillery rocket systems in attempt regain control on breakaway republic of south ossetia. after bombings, georgian army invaded city in attempt gain control on it. russian army responded on following day moving own forces city , counterattacking georgian army. on 10 august georgian forces pulled out of tskhinvali, captured russian army after intense fighting.

the monument victims of georgian-ossetian conflict near armenian church in tskhinvali

a considerable part of population of south ossetia (at least, 30,000 out of 70,000) fled north ossetia–alania prior or after start of war. however, many civilians killed during shelling , following battle of tskhinvali (162 civilian deaths documented russian team of investigators , 365 - south ossetian authorities). town heavily damaged during battle. jewish quarter — 1 of town s unique neighbourhoods reported destroyed. andrey illarionov visited town in october 2008, , reported jewish quarter indeed in ruins, though observed ruins overgrown shrubs , trees, indicates destruction took place during 1991–1992 south ossetia war. however, mark ames, covering last war nation, stated tskhinvali s main residential district, nicknamed shanghai because of population density (it’s of city’s high-rise apartment blocks located), , old jewish quarter, destroyed.