The August 2008 war

The five-day Russo-Georgian war, after which Russia recognised the independence of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region.

2008

The summer of 2008 passed in the Tskhinvali region amid mounting shelling and incidents. On the night of 8 August Georgian forces began an assault on Tskhinvali; the same day Russia moved troops into the region and struck targets across Georgia from the air, Gori among them. A second front opened from Abkhazia, in the Kodori gorge. By 10 August Russian troops held most of the region and had pushed beyond it. The fighting lasted five days.

On 12 August, mediated by Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country then held the EU presidency, a six-point plan was agreed: the non-use of force, an end to hostilities, access for humanitarian aid, the withdrawal of forces to their previous positions and an international monitoring mechanism.

On 26 August 2008 Russia recognised the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia; Georgia broke off diplomatic relations with it. Georgian official figures record 228 civilians, 170 servicemen and 14 police killed; some 135,000 people were displaced, and a number of Georgian villages in the Tskhinvali region were destroyed.

The independent fact-finding mission led by Heidi Tagliavini, set up by the European Union, published its report on 30 September 2009. Its conclusion: the large-scale hostilities began with the Georgian shelling of Tskhinvali, but this was the culmination of a long period of tension and provocation, while Russia's actions beyond the region went, in the mission's view, past the bounds of lawful defence. Georgia and most of the world's states regard Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region as occupied territories; the administrative boundary line runs through Shida Kartli and has crept further inland over the years.