page_title: Battle of Tskhinvali
section_title: Arrival of Russian reinforcements
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Tskhinvali / Battle / Russian intervention / Arrival of Russian reinforcements
caption_attribution_description: August 2008. Battalion Vostok in South Ossetia (Батальон «Восток» в Южной Осетии)
context_page_description: The Battle of Tskhinvali was a battle for the city of Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway state of South Ossetia. It was the only major battle in the Russo-Georgian War. Georgian ground troops entered the city on early 8 August 2008, after an artillery assault. Georgians took control of most of the city in hours. Russian main forces began entering South Ossetia through the Roki tunnel. After being initially forced to withdraw, the Georgian troops made several attempts to retake the city. Due to the difficult logistics of the terrain, the arrival of Russian reinforcements was slow. After fierce fighting, Georgian troops were finally forced to withdraw from the city on the evening of 10 August. On 11 August, all Georgian troops left South Ossetia. Parts of Tskhinvali were devastated in the three-day fighting.
context_section_description: According to Western intelligence agencies quoted by Der Spiegel, the involvement of Russian regular forces began at 07:30 on 8 August, when Russia launched SS-21 short-range ballistic missiles against military and government bunker positions in the city Borjomi, southwest of Gori. The first Russian air attack was recorded two hours later, at around 09:30, on the village of Shavshvebi in the Gori District.
  At 2:00 AM on 8 August, according to CAST, the Russian Army began to arrive in South Ossetia, when battalions from the 693rd and 135th Motorized Rifle Regiments began arriving in South Ossetia through the Roki Tunnel. Individual platoons began securing positions on the road from the Roki Tunnel to Tskhinvali, so as to ensure the safe entry of additional Russian forces into the region.
  According to Russia, the Security Council of South Ossetia appealed to Russia at around 11:00 on 8 August, requesting help. According to Moscow Defense Brief, on the morning of 8 August, the Russian government made a decision to conduct an operation to prevent Georgia from seizing the territory of South Ossetia. Russia claimed to have responded to an attack on the peacekeepers and to be defending South Ossetian civilians. Russia claimed that its aim was "peace enforcement". Russia accused Georgia of committing "genocide". Russian authorities claimed that the civilian casualties in Tskhinvali amounted up to 2,000. These high casualty figures were later revised down to 162 casualties as of 23 December 2008.
  A captain in the 135th Regiment, Denis Sidristy, said in the interview published by Krasnaya Zvezda that his unit had been ordered to move to Tskhinvali on 7 August. Sidristy said that he witnessed the Georgian attack on Tskhinvali around midnight. According to a senior Russian official, General Uvarov, the first Russian combat unit, the First Battalion of the 135th Motorized Rifle Regiment, was ordered at around dawn of 8 August to move through the Roki Tunnel. According to him, the unit did not pass through the tunnel until 2:30 PM. According to him, it reached Tskhinvali in the next evening, having met heavy resistance from Georgians. Georgia disputed the account, saying that it was in heavy combat with Russian forces near the tunnel long before dawn of 8 August. According to Der Spiegel, Russian troops did not begin marching through the tunnel until roughly 11 AM on 8 August.
  According to the Georgian account, the first Russian units crossed the tunnel at 5:30 on 8 August, passed through Java and proceeded to advance on Tskhinvali, using the Dzara road. The first motorcade of Russian tanks, armored vehicles and ammunition trucks reached Tskhinvali at 18:44 and opened fire on the Georgian forces in the city and surrounding heights. The second motorcade, which also came from Russia via the Roki tunnel, was stopped near the Georgian-controlled area of Dmenisi, 7 kilometers north of Tskhinvali, and the Russians commenced heavy fire on Georgian forces. The Russian artillery fire against Georgian forces in and around Tskhinvali reportedly included Grad bombardament as well causing more collateral damage.
  The main Russian ground forces belonged to the 58th Army and were veterans of the Second Chechen War. The 58th Army was reinforced by the 76th Guards Air Assault Division. Cossacks also moved in to combat the Georgians as well.
caption: The Russian Army's Vostok Battalion in South Ossetia.
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