The communist South Ossetian authorities declared sovereignty on 20 September 1990 as part of the USSR. Tensions increased, with ethnic Georgians believing that they were being dispossessed. Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia removed South Ossetian autonomy, declaring a state of emergency which intensified South Ossetian demands for unification with North Ossetia. The strained relations bred a rapid increase in nationalist militias. Georgian police entered Tskhinvali (the South Ossetian capital) on 5 January 1991, beginning the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. War crimes were committed by both sides; over 250 people were killed, and at least 485 were wounded.