South Ossetia profile - BBC News BBC News Read more about sharing. Close share panel South Ossetia, officially part of Georgia, is separated from Russia's North Ossetia region by a border running high in the Caucasus Mountains. Much of the region lies more than 1,000 metres above sea level. A source of tension since the break-up of the Soviet Union, South Ossetia hosted a brief war between Russia and Georgia in 2008. Moscow subsequently recognised South Ossetia as an independent state, and began a process of closer ties that Georgia views as effective annexation. South Ossetia is inhabited mostly by Ossetians, who speak a language distantly related to Persian. Most ethnic Georgians have been displaced from the region by the two conflicts. They had accounted for about a third of the population prior to the fall of the Soviet Union. Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring Image copyright Getty Images Image caption South Ossetians celebrate Russian recognition of their territory in 2008 Russian conquest The Ossetians are believed to be descended from tribes which migrated into the area from Asia many hundreds of years ago and settled in what is now North Ossetia.

As the Russian empire expanded into the area in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Ossetians did not join other peoples of the North Caucasus in putting up fierce resistance. They sided with the Bolshevik forces that occupied Georgia in the early 1920s and, as part of the carve-up which followed, the South Ossetian Autonomous Region was created in Georgia, and North Ossetia was formed in Russia. Separatism In the twilight of the Soviet Union, when nationalist leader Zviad Gamsakhurdia came to power in Georgia, separatist sentiment burgeoned in South Ossetia. After several outbreaks of violence, the region declared its intention to secede from Georgia in 1990, and in 1992 proclaimed independence. Sporadic violence involving Georgian irregular forces and Ossetian fighters continued until the summer of 1992 when agreement on the deployment of Georgian, Ossetian and Russian peacekeepers was reached. Political stalemate followed. Separatist voices became less strident during President Shevardnadze's rule in Georgia, but the issues returned to the foreground when Mikheil Saakashvili replaced him.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity welcomed Russian troops in August 2008 Making clear his intention to bring South Ossetia and another breakaway region Abkhazia to heel, Mr Saakashvili offered them autonomy. South Ossetians overwhelmingly rejected the overture in a 2006 referendum. Tensions came to head in early August 2008, when, after nearly a week of clashes between Georgian troops and separatist forces, Georgia launched a concerted air and ground assault attack on South Ossetia's main city, Tskhinvali. Within days, Russian forces swept the Georgians out of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, briefly pursuing them into Georgia proper. Russian domination Russia formally recognised both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states after the war, followed by its Latin-American allies Venezuela and Nicaragua and a few Pacific island states. In April 2009, Russia bolstered its position in South Ossetia by signing a five-year agreement to take formal control of its frontiers with Georgia proper, as well as those of Abkhazia.

In 2015 Russia started to put more pressure on Georgia over South Ossetia. It signed an "alliance and integration agreement" with South Ossetia that abolished border checkpoints. Georgia viewed this as a closer step towards Russian annexation of the region, and expressed further concern when Russian forces pushed the border fence 1.5 km further into Georgia proper - a short distance from the country's main west-east highway. BBC News - Regions and territories: South Ossetia Printable version Regions and territories: South Ossetia Mountainous South Ossetia, which is officially part of Georgia, is separated from North Ossetia in Russia by the border between the two countries running high in the Caucasus Mountains. Much of the region lies more than 1000 metres above sea level. Long a source of tension in the region, South Ossetia was the focus of a full-blown war between Russia and Georgia in 2008. In the aftermath, it declared independence from Georgia and was recognised by Russia, although only a few other countries followed suit. South Ossetia is inhabited mostly by Ossetians who speak a language remotely related to Persian. Georgians account for less than one-third of the population.

Overview Georgia is adamant that there can be no compromise over the status of South Ossetia to the extent that it avoids the use of the name South Ossetia, which it sees as implying political bonds with North Ossetia. The 2008 conflict left much of the capital Tskhinvali in ruins Insisting that North Ossetia is, in fact, the only Ossetia, Tbilisi prefers to call South Ossetia by the historic Georgian name of Samachablo or, more recently, Tskhinvali Region. In August 2008 Georgia's efforts to regain control of the area suffered a crippling blow when Russia - the South Ossetian separatists' military backers - defeated a Georgian incursion into South Ossetia in a bloody five-day conflict. History The Ossetians are believed to be descended from tribes which migrated into the area from Asia many hundreds of years ago and settled in what is now North Ossetia. As the Russian empire expanded into the area in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Ossetians did not join other peoples of the North Caucasus in putting up fierce resistance.

By tradition, the Ossetians have had good relations with Russians and were regarded as loyal citizens, first of the Russian empire and later of the Soviet Union. They sided with the Kremlin when Bolshevik forces occupied Georgia in the early 1920s and, as part of the carve-up which followed, the South Ossetian Autonomous Region was created in Georgia and North Ossetia was formed in Russia. Violence flares In the twilight of the Soviet Union, as Georgian nationalist Zviad Gamsakhurdia came to prominence in Tbilisi, separatist sentiment burgeoned in South Ossetia. Russian troops were welcomed as liberators in the 2008 conflict After several outbreaks of violence between Georgians and Ossetians, the region declared its intention to secede from Georgia in 1990 and, the following year, declared de facto independence. The collapse of the USSR and Georgian independence in 1991 only strengthened South Ossetia's determination to break with Tbilisi. Sporadic violence involving Georgian irregular forces and Ossetian fighters continued until the summer of 1992 when agreement on the deployment of Georgian, Ossetian and Russian peacekeepers was reached. Political stalemate followed.

Separatist voices became less strident during President Shevardnadze's rule in Georgia, but the issues returned to the foreground when Mikhail Saakashvili replaced him as president. Making clear his intention to bring the breakaway regions to heel, Mr Saakashvili offered South Ossetia dialogue and autonomy within the Georgian state. But his offer fell far short of separatist demands, and in 2006 South Ossetians overwhelmingly voted to restate their demand for independence in a referendum that Georgia did not recognise. Tensions came to head in early August 2008, when, after nearly a week of clashes between Georgian troops and separatist forces, Georgia launched a concerted air and ground assault attack on South Ossetia, briefly gaining control of Tskhinvali. Georgian forces fire a rocket during the brief war with Russia in 2008 Declaring its citizens to be under under attack, as most South Ossetians have Russian passports, Moscow sent in troops and launched air attacks on the Georgian forces. Within days Russian forces had swept the Georgians out of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and then proceeded to occupy parts of Georgia, causing panic in Tbilisi.

Recognition Following Western protests, Russia pulled its forces back towards South Ossetia and Abkhazia under a cease-fire agreement, but days later proceeded formally to recognise both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. Internationally, only Russian's Latin-American allies Venezuela and Nicaragua have recognised South Ossetian independence, apart from a few Pacific island states. In April 2009, Russia bolstered its position in South Ossetia by signing a five-year agreement to take formal control of its frontiers with Georgia proper, as well as those of Abkhazia. Facts Status: Break-away region of Georgia. Separated from Georgia in a 1991-92 war. Population: Approximately 70,000 Major languages: Ossetian, Georgian, Russian Major religion: Christianity Media President: Leonid Tibilov Leonid Tibilov, a former South Ossetian KGB head, was inaugurated in April 2012 after winning a re-run leadership election. The electoral commission said he won 54% of the vote.

Leonid Tibilov has promised to heal old wounds The results of the original election - in November 2011 - were annulled after the Kremlin-backed candidate Anatoly Bibilov complained of alleged poll violations. His opposition rival, Alla Dzhioyeva, had been ahead in the vote count. Ms Dzhioyeva was barred from the re-run, and her supporters held 10 days of protests. After his election win, Mr Tibilov promised to build a "new and successful legitimate state" and vowed to try to heal old wounds in the region. At his swearing-in, he promised to be faithful to South Ossetia's Russian backers and to tackle the alleged misuse of Moscow's aid money. Tensions over the disbursement of Russian aid dogged Mr Tibilov's predecessor, Eduard Kokoity. Former members of his government accused him of corruption and sought early presidential elections. As Mr Tibilov took office, local and Russian commentators predicted that he would face a major challenge in overcoming Mr Kokoity's legacy, with success depending on his ability to remove the former leader's associates from key posts.

Media South Ossetia | EurasiaNet.org South Ossetia A South Ossetian tank trains at the Tarskoe training grounds. (photo: MoD South Ossetia) South Ossetia's armed forces will become part of the Russian armed forces but will retain separate units, the self-declared republic's authorities have announced. The plan appears to be a compromise worked out between the de facto leadership in Tskhinvali and their patrons in Moscow. The fate of South Ossetia's modest military (numbering about 800 troops) has been at the center of negotiations on the level of autonomy that the small territory will retain. Most of the world considers South Ossetia to be part of Georgia, but Russia recognized it as an independent state in 2008 and has been cementing its control since then. In 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his de facto South Ossetian counterpart Leonid Tibilov signed an agreement on "alliance and integration" which included a provision calling for "certain units of the armed forces of South Ossetia to enter the structure" of the Russian military. But the specific implementation of that "entering the structure" remained unclear.

Controversy broke out last year when some forces in parliament put forth a proposal to dissolve South Ossetia's armed forces and fold them into Russia's. Then some months later the de facto president, Leonid Tibilov, said that wouldn't happen and that South Ossetia would keep control of its armed forces, implying that they wouldn't be folded into Russia's. The new arrangement seems to be a compromise between those two proposals, and was laid out by the de facto defense minister, Ibragim Gassayev, at an event in Tskhinvali on January 12 . South Ossetia “Mimino” truck driver Rubik Khachikian , no doubt, would be proud: Armenian truck drivers recently came close to securing a breakthrough in the bitter breakaway dispute between Georgia, Russia and the separatist enclave South Ossetia that has bedeviled diplomats for years. Since June, Georgia has been facing an Armenian-truck traffic jam in its north, where a landslide and flooding clogged the highway leading to its only official border-crossing with Russia. The road is the sole way by land for Armenia to reach Russia, a key economic and diplomatic partner, and its main military ally.

With this trade lifeline blocked, Armenia late last month tried its luck asking Tbilisi for passage through separatist South Ossetia , which Moscow calls an independent state, and Tbilisi Georgian territory occupied by Russia. The Georgian government proved unexpectedly amenable to the idea, first raised by Armenian Transportation and Communications Minister Gagik Beglarian. But the Georgian public heavily criticized the proposal. Government critics insisted that allowing transit through the breakaway territory region means capitulation to Russia and violation of the Georgian law on the occupied territories, which bans the transportation of cargo via the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Yet Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and other proponents of Armenia’s proposal argued that it was in Georgia’s interests to ensure the continued passage of both Armenian and Georgian exports to Russia. Dismissing the criticism as "hysteria," Kvirikashvili pointed out that using South Ossetia as a backup export route would be temporary. South Ossetia South Ossetia will keep its army, its de facto president has said, apparently ending a contentious discussion about dissolving the territory's armed forces and subsuming them into the Russian military.

However, South Ossetia's armed forces will remain heavily dependent on their Russian patrons, who are funding a rearmament program that will make Tskhinvali's military the equal of Russian units, de facto president Leonid Tibilov said in an interview with Russian news agency Sputnik. "The process of arms and equipment modernization of the Republic of South Ossetia will be launched to reach the level of the Russian Defense Ministry's 58th Army," Tibilov said. He added that the Russian military presence in the territory will not be increased: "Regarding an increase in the number of [Russian] military, I can say that the current contingent is capable of solving the tasks, therefore the issue of an expansion… is not on the agenda," he said. The future of South Ossetia's armed forces emerged as a controversy earlier this year after the de facto defense minister accused some members of parliament of conniving to dissolve the armed forces. The issue of the military is one of the sharpest in the negotiations between Moscow and Tskhinvali over the level of autonomy that the territory will retain.

South Ossetia broke away from Georgia as the Soviet Union was collapsing, and has been propped up by arms and money from Moscow since then. Georgia attempted an ill-fated attack to get the territory back in 2008, and Russia responded by formally recognizing the territory's independence (though very few other countries followed Moscow's lead). South Ossetia South Ossetia's authorities are fighting among themselves about the future of the country's armed forces, with the territory's de facto defense minister accusing political opponents of wanting to dissolve the military and fully hand over the responsibility for its defense to Russia. At issue is the implementation of the agreement signed last March by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his de facto South Ossetian counterpart Leonid Tibilov on "alliance and integration" between Russia and South Ossetia, including a "common space of security and defense." Russia officially recognized South Ossetia as an independent country in 2008, after it fought a war with Georgia over the tiny territory, still recognized by most of the rest of the world as a part of Georgia.

Since then, Russia has been formalizing its control over the territory, though only up to a point: a South Ossetian proposal last fall to hold a referendum on joining Russia was quietly ignored by Moscow, which apparently decided it didn't have anything to gain by this particular annexation. In any case, the March 2015 agreement between Moscow and Tskhinvali called for "particular units of the armed forces of South Ossetia to enter the structure" of the Russian military. But the devil is in the details, and the two sides are now working out legislation on how to implementat the agreement. South Ossetia's defense minister, Ibragim Gasseyev, accused the South Ossetian parliament of conniving to eliminate the local armed forces altogether. South Ossetia Off-limits for Georgians, the separatist side of breakaway South Ossetia’s boundary with Georgian-controlled territory will now become partly restricted for South Ossetians, too, leaving little opportunity for civilian contact across the Russian-policed line of conflict.

South Ossetians will need a permit from the KGB, as the separatist region’s security services are still called, to visit villages along the boundary, the de-facto body announced on February 15. South Ossetians living in these villages reportedly are worried that they will eventually face eviction. Their ethnic Georgian population was evicted en masse during the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia over the territory. The South Ossetian KGB and Russia’s FSB, which handles keeping a watch on the contact line with Georgian-controlled territory , assured local villagers, however, that no evictions plans are in the can and that the travel restrictions will not extend to residents themselves . “Before visiting you, your guests, be it friends or relatives, will need to go to the KGB’s border service, which will be issuing the permits,” said South Ossetian KGB official Soslan Tigiyev, reported a local outlet of the Russian-government-owned Sputnik news network . Locals objected to the travel restrictions. Separatist officials also said that South Ossetian and Russian border guards must be notified of weddings or funerals – usually large-scale events in the South Caucasus -- to lift the restrictions temporarily.

Friends and relatives residing on the Georgian-controlled side of the conflict line are altogether barred from attending social functions in the breakaway region. South Ossetia Russian officials have attacked the International Criminal Court for an anti-Russian bias in its prosecution of alleged war crimes in the 2008 war with Georgia over South Ossetia. At the end of January the ICC gave its prosecutor the go-ahead to investigate the war. The court's prosecutor has said she is looking at crimes allegedly committed by Georgian, South Ossetian, and Russian forces during the conflict. But all sides seem to have ignored the potential charges against Georgia , with Georgia welcoming the ICC's involvement and Russia and South Ossetia criticizing it. After the ICC's announcement that it would proceed with the investigation, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs complained that the court was taking Georgia's side. "The ICC prosecutor has placed the blame with South Ossetians and Russian soldiers, taken the aggressor’s side, and started an investigation aimed against the victims of the attack. Such actions hardly reflect the ideals of justice," said MFA spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a January 29 briefing .

"In the light of the latest decision, the Russian Federation will be forced to fundamentally review its attitude towards the ICC." South Ossetia Georgian soldiers have been accused of sexually abusing children while on a peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, according to United Nations human rights officials. Georgia's ministry of defense said it was investigating the allegations. UN investigators have been researching claims that children in the CAR were abused by soldiers in a European Union peacekeeping mission in 2014. In a statement issued Friday, theUN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said that some Georgians were among those accused. "While the nationalities of some of the soldiers remain unclear, three of the girls said they believed their abusers were members of the Georgian EUFOR contingent. The four girls were aged between 14 and 16 at the time of the alleged abuse," the statement said. About 100 Georgian soldiers served in the peacekeeping force from 2014-2015. They were the second-largest troop contributor to the force, behind France. Georgia presented the mission , as it does its many contributions to American and European military endeavors abroad, as a means of raising Georgia's prestige in the West.

South Ossetia Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have identified Georgian military units trained by the United States as being suspected of war crimes, possibly jeopardizing future American aid to those units. Last month, the ICC prosecutor's office formally requested the authority to start investigations into war crimes in the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia over the disputed territory of South Ossetia. According to the prosecutor's initial report , Georgian and Russian military forces, as well as units of the de facto South Ossetian security forces, all were implicated in war crimes. In the Georgian case, the crimes involved attacks on Russian units of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces under the Sochi agreement between Georgia and Russia, which formally ended the conflict. Intentionally attacking peacekeepers is a war crime under the Rome Statute, under which the ICC operates. From the ICC report: During the night from 7 to 8 August 2008 the Georgian armed forces conducted a military operation against JPKF HQ and the base of the Russian Peacekeeping Forces Battalion (RUPKFB) claiming that it had lost its protected status.

According to the Russian authorities, 10 peacekeepers belonging to the Russian peacekeeping contingent were killed and a further 30 were wounded as a result. South Ossetia South Ossetia, a separatist region that sees itself as an independent country, has announced plans to hold a popular show of hands about joining its big neighbor and benefactor, Russia. “Today’s political reality is such that we have to make our historic choice: we must reunite with brotherly Russia and ensure centuries of security and prosperity for our republic, our people,” the region’s de-facto leader, Leonid Tibilov , allegedly announced at an October 19 meeting with Vladislav Surkov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advisor for separatist matters. What particularly attracts South Ossetia to Russia is neighboring North Ossetia, a Russian republic seen as part of an Ossetian homeland. But Putin’s press person, Dmitry Peskov, has a different recollection of Tibilov’s words. Nothing was said about a referendum or the region becoming part of Russia, he claimed, the state-run RIA reported. Just South Ossetia's "age-old dream of reunification" with Russia; in other words, nothing new, he said.

Russia effectively pulled South Ossetia out of Georgia during the two countries’ 2008 war, and subsequently declared it an independent state, an entity that it had saved from abuse by Georgia. It has shelled out millions of rubles to sponsor South Ossetia’s statehood-building. It apparently sees no reason to go a step further and absorb the region altogether. South Ossetia has not announced a date for its referendum, but the plain message from Moscow is "bad timing." Vladimir Putin March 11 was supposed to be a big day for South Ossetia , the tiny breakaway region with a wish to become one with Russia. A South Ossetian delegation had arrived in Moscow with an engagement ring — the so-called Treaty on Alliance and Integration — but Russia was just not ready to commit. Perhaps because it has too much going on in its life right now. The main battleground for the 2008 Georgian-Russian war, South Ossetia never made a secret of its desire to become the next Crimea. Its leadership had left for the signing-ceremony in Moscow to much fanfare at home and teeth-grinding in jilted Tbilisi, which claims the mountainous border region as its own.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin did not even receive the delegation, much less sign the agreement meant to merge the Russian and South Ossetian economies and government agencies. Russian media was awash with speculation: Putin had a running nose or thinks the territory did a sloppy job with the agreement or is bogged down in Ukraine and does not feel like adding another region to his land-grab collection right now. “Indefinite postponement of such a document’s signing on the eve of an event is an unprecedented development,” wrote Russia’s Vzglyad newspaper. Russia and Georgia Clash Over Separatist Region - The New York Times The New York Times Europe |Russia and Georgia Clash Over Separatist Region Search Continue reading the main story GORI, Georgia — Russia conducted airstrikes on Georgian targets on Friday evening, escalating the conflict in a separatist area of Georgia that is shaping into a test of the power and military reach of an emboldened Kremlin. Earlier in the day, Russian troops and armored vehicles had rolled into South Ossetia , supporting the breakaway region in its bitter conflict with Georgia. The United States and other Western nations, joined by NATO, condemned the violence and demanded a cease-fire.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice went a step further, calling on Russia to withdraw its forces. But the Russian soldiers remained, and Georgian officials reported at least one airstrike, on the Black Sea port of Poti, late on Friday night. Russian military units — including tank, artillery and reconnaissance — arrived in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, on Saturday to help Russian peacekeepers there, in response to overnight shelling by Georgian forces, state television in Russia reported, citing the Ministry of Defense. Ground assault aircraft were also mobilized, the Ministry said. Also on Saturday a senior Georgian official said by telephone that Russian bombers were flying over Georgia and that the presidential offices and residence in Tbilisi had been evacuated. The official added that Georgian forces still had control of Tskhinvali. Continue reading the main story Neither side showed any indication of backing down. Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia declared that “war has started,” and President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia accused Russia of a “well-planned invasion” and mobilized Georgia’s military reserves. There were signs as well of a cyberwarfare campaign, as Georgian government Web sites were crashing intermittently during the day.

Photo Georgian soldiers near a bombed building in Gori on Saturday. Credit Gleb Garanich/Reuters The escalation risked igniting a renewed and sustained conflict in the Caucasus region, an important conduit for the flow of oil from the Caspian Sea to world markets and an area where conflict has flared for years along Russia’s borders, most recently in Chechnya. The military incursion into Georgia marked a fresh sign of Kremlin confidence and resolve, and also provided a test of the capacities of the Russian military, which Mr. Putin had tried to modernize and re-equip during his two presidential terms. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Frictions between Georgia and South Ossetia, which has declared de facto independence, have simmered for years, but intensified when Mr. Saakashvili came to power in Georgia and made national unification a centerpiece of his agenda. Mr. Saakashvili, a close American ally who has sought NATO membership for Georgia, is loathed at the Kremlin in part because he had positioned himself as a spokesman for democracy movements and alignment with the West. Earlier this year Russia announced that it was expanding support for the separatist regions. Georgia labeled the new support an act of annexation.

The conflict in Georgia also appeared to suggest the limits of the power of President Dmitri A. Medvedev , Mr. Putin’s hand-picked successor. During the day, it was Mr. Putin’s stern statements from China, where he was visiting the opening of the Olympic Games, that appeared to define Russia’s position. But Mr. Medvedev made a public statement as well, making it unclear who was directing Russia’s military operations. Officially, that authority rests with Mr. Medvedev, and foreign policy is outside Mr. Putin’s portfolio. Photo A Georgian man mourned a dead relative in the town of Gori, which was hit by Russian bombs, according to residents. Credit David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters “The war in Ossetia instantly showed the idiocy of our state management,” said a commentator on the liberal radio station, Ekho Moskvy. “Who is in charge — Putin or Medvedev?” The war between Georgia and South Ossetia, until recently labeled a “frozen conflict,” stretches back to the early 1990s, when South Ossetia and another separatist region, Abkhazia, gained de facto independence from Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The region settled into a tenuous peace monitored by Russian peacekeepers, but frictions with Georgia increased sharply in 2004, when Mr. Saakashvili was elected. Reports conflicted throughout Friday about whether Georgian or Russian forces had won control of Tskhinvali, the capital of the mountainous rebel province. It was unclear late on Friday whether ground combat had taken place between Russian and Georgian soldiers, or had been limited to fighting between separatists and Georgian forces. Marat Kulakhmetov, commander of Russian peacekeeping forces in Tskhinvali, said early on Saturday that South Ossetian separatists still held most of the city and that Georgian forces were only present on its southern edge. Advertisement Continue reading the main story That report aligned with a statement by Georgia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Irakli Alasania, who said that Georgian military units held eight villages at the capital’s edge. Georgian officials asserted that Russian warplanes had attacked Georgian forces and civilians in Tskhinvali, and that airports in four Georgian cities had been hit.

Shota Utiashvili, an official at the Georgian Interior Ministry, said they included the Vaziany military base outside of Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, a military base in Marneuli, and airports in the cities of Delisi and Kutaisi. Photo Georgians left their homes near the city of Tskhinvali on Friday as Russian and Georgian forces fought for control of it. Credit David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters “We are under massive attack,” he said. Late in the night, George Arveladze, an adviser to Mr. Saakashvili, said that Russian planes had bombed the commercial seaport of Poti, where one worker was missing and several others were wounded. Poti is an export point for oil from the Caspian Sea; Mr. Arveladze said the initial reports indicated that the oil terminal had not been struck. Eduard Kokoity, the president of South Ossetia, said in a statement on a government Web site that hundreds of civilians had been killed in fighting in the capital. Russian peacekeepers stationed in South Ossetia said that 12 peacekeeping soldiers were killed Friday and that 50 were wounded.

The claims of casualties by all sides could not be independently verified. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy Analysts said that either Georgia or Russia could be trying to seize an opportune moment — with world leaders focused on the start of the 2008 Olympics this week — to reclaim the territory, and to settle the dispute before a new American presidential administration comes to office. Richard C. Holbrooke, the former American ambassador to the United Nations, said that Russia’s aims were clear. “They have two goals,” he said. “To do a creeping annexation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and, secondly, to overthrow Saakashvili, who is a tremendous thorn in their side.” A spokesman for Mr. Medvedev declined to comment. The United States State Department issued a press release late Friday saying that John D. Negroponte, the deputy secretary of state, had summoned the Russian chargé d’affairs to press for a de-escalation of force. “We deplore today’s Russian attacks by strategic bombers and missiles, which are threatening civilian lives,” the statement said.

The United States also said Friday that it would send an envoy to the region to try to broker an end to the fighting. Photo A wounded Georgian soldier was brought to Gori on Friday amid clashes over the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Russian forces entered the region. Credit Justyna Mielnikiewicz for The New York Times Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany issued a statement calling on both sides “to halt the use of force immediately.” Germany has taken a leading role in trying to ease the tensions over Abkhazia. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The trigger for the fresh escalation began last weekend, when South Ossetia accused Georgia of firing mortars into the enclave after six Georgian policemen were killed in the border area by a roadside bomb. As tensions grew, South Ossetia began sending women and children out of the enclave. The refugee crisis intensified Friday as relief groups said thousands of refugees, mostly women and children, were streaming across the border into the North Caucasus city of Vladikavkaz in Russia. Early on Friday, Russia’s Channel One television showed Russian tanks entering South Ossetia and reported that two battalions reinforced by tanks and armored personnel carriers were approaching its capital.

There were unconfirmed reports that Georgian forces had shot down two Russian planes and that its aircraft had bombed a convoy of Russian tanks. Russian state television showed what it said was a destroyed Georgian tank in Tskhinvali, its turret smoldering. Women and children in Tskhinvali were hiding in basements while men had fled to the woods, said a woman reached by telephone in the neighboring Russian region of North Ossetia, who said she had been in phone contact with relatives there. She declined to give her name. In Gori, a city outside South Ossetia and about 12 miles from Tskhinvali, residents said there had been sporadic bombing all day. The city was shaken by numerous vibrations from the impact of bombs on Friday evening. One Russian bomb exploded in Gori near a textile factory and a cellphone tower, leaving a crater. Photo Soldiers from South Ossetia, a breakaway Georgia enclave, on Thursday near Tskhinvali, where heavy fire was reported. Credit NTV, via Agence France-Presse At the United Nations on Friday, diplomats continued to wrangle over the text of a statement after attempts to agree to compromise language collapsed Friday afternoon, after nearly three hours of consultations.

The Russians, who had called the emergency session, proposed a short, three-paragraph statement that expressed concern about the escalating violence, and singled out Georgia and South Ossetia as needing to cease hostilities and return to the negotiating table. But one phrase calling on all parties to “renounce the use of force” met with opposition, particularly from the United States, France and Britain. The three countries argued that the statement was unbalanced, one European diplomat said, because that language would have undermined Georgia’s ability to defend itself. Belgium, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, circulated a revised draft calling for an immediate cessation of hostility and for “all parties” to return to the negotiating table. By dropping the specific reference to Georgia and South Ossetia, the compromise statement would also encompass Russia. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The Security Council was scheduled to meet Saturday to resume deliberations. China, in its statement during the early morning debate, had asked for a traditional cease-fire out of respect for the opening of the Olympics. President Bush discussed the conflict by telephone with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the national security adviser, Stephen J.

Hadley, for about an hour after attending the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, the White House press secretary, Dana M. Perino said. Mr. Bush held another conference with Mr. Hadley and his deputy, James Jeffery, on Saturday morning before attending beach volleyball practice. There are over 2,000 American citizens in Georgia, Pentagon officials said. Among them are about 130 trainers — mostly American military personnel but with about 30 Defense Department civilians —assisting the Georgian military with preparations for deployments to Iraq. The American military was taking no actions regarding the outbreak of violence, according to Pentagon and military officials. While there has been some contact with the Georgian authorities, the Defense Department had received no requests for assistance, the officials said. Michael Schwirtz reported from Gori, and Anne Barnard from Moscow. Reporting was contributed by Andrew E. Kramer and Ellen Barry from Moscow, Nicholas Kulish from Berlin, Neil MacFarquhar from the United Nations, and Thom Shanker from Washington. A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Russia and Georgia Clash Over Breakaway Region.

Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe Georgia and South Ossetia I. CASE BACKGROUND 1. Abstract The South Ossetians of Georgia have been in conflict with the Georgian government since just before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990’s. Between 1918 and 1920, the first overtures to South Ossetian independence were made during a series of Ossetian rebellions against the first Georgian Republic. Once Georgia came under Soviet rule in 1923, and for the remainder of Soviet rule, there was peace between the two groups. Major violent conflict erupted again, however, between Ossetian separatist guerillas and Georgian troops in the early 1990’s, and then once more in 2004. The basic domestic and international issues surrounding the conflict are the South Ossetians' claims of unequal treatment under Georgian rule and subsequent demands for cultural, social, economic and political protections as a minority group, Russia’s desire to punish Georgia for its increasingly pro-Western political orientation, and outside concerns about the stability and accessibility of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline running partly through Georgia.

However, at the conflict’s most basic level, it is a conflict over land and territory. Georgia wants to maintain its territorial integrity and thus prevent the region of South Ossetia from seceding, while South Ossetia wants to either establish independence or join with North Ossetia and come under Russian rule. In essence, my research will consider the history of relations between the Georgians, Russians and Ossetians, the ethnic/cultural differences, the current interests/motivations of all sides, and the prospects for settling the dispute over the land. Read about the related case of Nagorno-Karabakh 2. Description The region of South Ossetia lies in the north central part of Georgia and is home to an ethnic group distinct from both the Georgians and Russians. When Georgia came under Soviet rule in 1923, the Soviet government granted South Ossetia the status of being the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (SOAO) within the Soviet Republic of Georgia. At the same time, North Ossetia was left under the domain of Russia, thus splitting Ossetia into Northern and Southern regions.

Therefore, since the break-up of the Soviet Union, the South Ossetians, have been attempting to gain independence since November 1989 when the SOAO Council sent a letter to the Georgian Supreme Soviet demanding to be unified with North Ossetia, mostly out of concern regarding Georgian nationalism and subsequent second class treatment. The Georgian leaders did not meet the demands of the South Ossetians and went so far as to ban all regional political parties in September 1990 during parliamentary elections. The Ossetians interpreted this as a move directly intended to weaken South Ossetian autonomy and power in the political system. Therefore, Soviet leaders approved of unification with North Ossetia, located in Russia, but Georgian leaders did not. This triggered a series of events which eventually led to violent conflict between the South Ossetians and Georgia. In September 1990, the Ossetians declared sovereingty under the USSR and in return, the Georgian government dissolved its recognition of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.

In January 1992, a referendum was held in Tskhinvali, the regional capital of South Ossetia, with a clear majority of the people supporting South Ossetia's seccession from Georgia and joining Russia. The South Ossetian Supreme Council made these desires official after voting in favor of secession from Georgia to Russia on November 19, 1992. ( 10 ) Under Soviet rule, there was little conflict between the two groups as everything was administered for both of them from one central authority in Moscow. However, as the Soviet Union began to rapidly decline in the late 1980’s, Georgian nationalism swelled and made the Ossetians living under the Georgian jurisdiction very nervous. Therefore, when the Georgians refused to recognize or allow South Ossetia to unite with North Ossetia and join Russia proper in 1989, violence began to simmer and eventually broke out in 1991, when thousands of Georgian troops marched on Tskhinvali and many Ossetian villages and Georgian homes were attacked by each opposing side. The fighting escalated in the spring of 1992, which included some Russian involvement in the conflict as well.

A ceasefire was negotiated in 1992 between then Russian President Boris Yeltsin and then Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and a Joint Control Commission was established as a peacekeeping force comprised of Russian, Georgian, and Ossetian troops. At the conclusion of the fighting in 1992, it is estimated there were 1,000 wartime casualties, 100 missing persons, and an innumerable amount of damaged or destroyed homes and infrastructure.( 10 ) However, in 2004, violence began once again when Georgia tried to clamp down on Russian activity in South Ossetia. In July 2004, the Russian Duma passed a resolution proclaiming its support of the South Ossetians in the conflict with Georgia. Who Are the Ossetians? The Ossetians are spread across several countries including Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and others. However, the home base is Ossetia itself which is also divided between countries; the north in Russia and the south in Georgia. The goal of the South Ossetian separatists is to either gain its independence or unite with North Ossetia, which lies in Russia.

Ethnically, the Ossetians are of Iranian stock and speak their own language, which is closely related to Pashto, and more distantly to Farsi. They claim to be the descendents of the ancient Alanian and Scythian tribes and therefore to have been inhabiting the South Caucasus for thousands of years. The Georgians, on the other hand, are a Caucasian people and speak a language belonging to the Caucasian family. The Georgians also claim to have ancient roots in the South Caucasus, while at the same time arguing that the Ossetians only migrated to the Caucasus between the 17th and 19th centuries. Along religious lines, both are predominately Orthodox Christian, with a Sunni Islam minority among the Ossetians. Therefore, the conflict between the two peoples is not based on religion, but rather on ethnicity, and territory.( 10 ) After the break-up of the Soviet Union and the creation of the new independent state of Georgia, the South Ossetians have felt oppressed and threatened by Georgian domestic policies. For example, Georgian was made the official administrative language throughout the state, but the Ossetians wanted their own language to be official in the South Ossetia region. 3.

Duration The conflict began with the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's, when the South Ossetians saw the dismantling of the Soviet Empire as an opportunity to establish their independence from Georgia. In 1991, violent conflict broke out between Georgian and South Ossetian forces resulting in hundreds of thousands being killed, displaced, or injured on both sides. In 1992 a peace deal was struck with the aid of Russia and a peacekeeping force comprised of Russian, Georgian, North and South Ossetians was formed to maintain peace among the population groups. The peace was relatively stable and lasted until 2004, when violent conflict again broke out as a result of the Georgian government's attempt to close down the significant black market trade going on between South Ossetia and Russia. The violence has again subsided, however the conflict is far from solved. 4. Location The location of most of the fighting has been within the South Ossetian territory itself. However, the effects of the conflict have spread to other areas of Georgia and into Russia as people have become refugees and moved between Georgia, Russia and South Ossetia.

During the fighting in 1991, Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, and a 15 kilometer area around the city were officially declared as the zone of conflict.( 10 ) 5. Actors This is a map of the different environmental issues facing Georgia. 6. Type of Environmental Problem The conflict between Georgia and the ethnic Ossetians is a dispute over territory, as the South Ossetians want to break away from Georgia, but Georgia wants to keep South Ossetia under its rule. However, there is more to the story than just territory and ethnic divisions. The environmental aspects of the dispute are also an important part of the picture. According to a Pro-Natura Proposal, ï¿½The long-lasting conflict in South Ossetia has had a significant impact on the environment, including the degradation, depletion and mismanagement of natural resources.ï¿½( 11 ) In addition, the territory of South Ossetia, located in north central Georgia, holds two of the four major border crossings among the mountains separating Russia and Georgia and has several of Georgiaï¿½s important roadways running through it from east to west and north to south.

Retaining control over such roadways and border crossings is important for Georgia as they aid both inter and intra-state movement of people and goods. In addition, two important oil pipelines, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Supsa (see map), run through Georgia on their way to Black Sea ports. Separatist movements, such as the South Ossetian movement, pose security threats to the pipelines and the flow of energy sources. ( 16 ) So not only is the environmental aspect important in terms of pollution and degradation, but also in geo-political strategic terms as well. Conflict with South Ossetia and also Abkhazia, make it very difficult for Georgia, or anyone else, to address environmental issues and establishing peace with conflict areas like South Ossetia may be nearly impossible without considering the environmental factors involved.

For example, a 2004 report by the United Nations Environment Programme says, ï¿½Environmental degradation and the use of natural resources are identified as factors that could deepen contention in areas of existing conflicts as in Abkhazia, South Ossetiaï¿½ï¿½.( 12 ) Acquiring accurate data about the environmental situation in South Ossetia is very difficult, which is a problem in of itself, however problems such as the exploitation of natural resources and soil contamination are known to exist in South Ossetia. Unfortunately, many environmental challenges were also inherited by Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, such as hazardous waste dumps, aging nuclear sites, etc. For example, there is an old Soviet ï¿½industrial complexï¿½ in northwest South Ossetia that is categorized as ï¿½still generating pollutionï¿½ and a nuclear waste site in the south part of the territory, also leftover from the days of Soviet rule. Again, with the territory in conflict, these environmental hazards are not being properly secured, monitored, or cleaned up. This is obviously a major risk to the local population as water supplies and arable land can be severely damaged by pollution from these sites.

A decrease in access to clean water and arable land could only worsen the conflict, as a fight for control of these resources could inflame the fighting. Deforestation has also become a problem in South Ossetia as a result of the conflict. Areas on the eastern and western edges of South Ossetia have experienced significant loss of forests and as the area is now without the stateï¿½s control, it is hard to both monitor and assess the situation. However, according to the UNEP report, the deforestation can be attributed to an energy crisis in rural areas and, ï¿½Incentives for illegal exports of valuable timber and endemic tree species from the conflict areas of Georgiaï¿½".( 12 ) Overgrazing of pasture lands in the northern part of South Ossetia has also become a problem. South Ossetia is somewhat isolated with a weak economy that relies mainly on smuggling goods across the border with Russia.

In 2004, the Georgian government began to crackdown hard on the smuggling and black-market activities in South Ossetia, which drove monthly earnings even lower than they already were.( 13 ) Therefore, the economic plight of South Ossetia most definitely contributes to the degradation of the environment and to deforestation in particular. 7. Type of Habitat The natural environment of Georgia and in particular, South Ossetia is mountainous with a temperate climate. 8. Act and Harm Sites: III. Conflict Aspects 9. Type of Conflict The conflict between the region of South Ossetia and Georgia is civil in nature. The fighting has taken place in Georgia between different factions of the population and not between two separate states. 10. Level of Conflict It is an intrastate conflict and is currently at a low threat level. Between 1991 and 1992, the violence was more severe, but then felll quiet throughout the 90ï¿½s and into the early 2000ï¿½s after a cease-fire agreement was signed between Georgia and Russia in June 1992..

In 2004, violence began to erupt again with shelling and gun battles taking place between the Georgian military and South Ossetian rebels. During this time, there were both military and civilian casualties, but again the violence died down with the signing of a cease-fire agreement in August 2004.( 14 ) 11. Fatality Level of Dispute (military and civilian fatalities) June 8, 1992 is the date when the conflict officially reached the 25 mark for military casualties, but in reality, the fighting between 1991 and 1992 led to over 1,000 civilian and military deaths. During the violence in 2004, at least 22 people died as a result of the armed conflict. When looking at the numbers for displaced peoples, the numbers are significantly higher than actual casualties.

For example, from the US Library of Congress country study on Georgia, it says, ï¿½The resulting conflict lasted throughout 1991, causing thousands of casualties and creating tens of thousands of refugees on both sides of the Georgian-Russian border.ï¿½( 15 ) The exact numbers for casualties are a bit hard to find, especially related to civilians. However, it is certain thousands of deaths have occurred during the particularly violent periods in the early 1990ï¿½s and in 2004, but for now the violence, but not the threat of violence has subsided. Above is a causal diagram showing the links between conflict, the environment, economy and political situation in Georgia/South Ossetia. 12. Environment-Conflict Link and Dynamics: The relationship between conflict and environment in the case of Georgia-South Ossetia dispute is indirect. The conflict is over control of the region of South Ossetia, but has more to do with ethnic tensions and political gain than environmental resources.

However, the conflict has had a negative impact on the environment with issues of deforestation, soil degradation, and pollution from unmanaged hazardous waste sites becoming a problem throughout Georgia and the South Ossetia region in particular. 13. Level of Strategic Interest The conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia is state v. sub-state. South Ossetia is a region in the north of Georgia, which is trying to either establish its independence or secede from Georgia and join Russia. Therefore, the conflict is within one state; Georgia. 14. Outcome of Dispute: Currently the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict is a stalemate. The South Ossetians still desire to breakaway from Georgia and establish their own state, and likewise, Georgia still wants to retain its territorial integrity and keep the region of South Ossetia as a part of the state. Violence first erupted in 1991 and then again in 2004, and although the situation is not violent at the moment, the threat of violent conflict remains. V. Related Information and Sources 15.

Related ICE and TED Cases The Nagorno-Karabakh case pertains to the current territorial dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both countries claim the territory, however the population is mostly composed of ethnic Armenians. Like the conflict between the Georgians and South Ossetians, this too erupted just after the break up of the Soviet Union. The Kashmir case deals with the disputed region in northern India, which both India and Pakistan claim as their own. Violence has occurred there and is related to the South Ossetian case as it is a territorial conflict. The conflict in Chechnya is also an ethnic/territorial conflict taking place in the Caucasus. Kirkuk is a city in northern Iraq. This conflict also deals with ethnic divides and claims on territory. 16. Relevant Websites and Literature 1. Lynch, Dov, Engaging Eurasia’s Separatist States : Unresolved Conflicts and de facto States 2. Alexei Arbatov [et al], Managing conflict in the former Soviet Union : Russian and American perspectives 3. Coppieters, Bruno, Federalism and conflict in the Caucasus 4.

Corso, Molly, “SHELLING SHATTERS CHANCES FOR GEORGIA-SOUTH OSSETIA PEACE?” 5. Simakovsky, Mark David, “US DIPLOMACY STRIVES TO KEEP SOUTH OSSETIA CONFLICT IN CHECK” 6. Freese, Theresa, “TENSION AGAIN ON THE RISE IN SOUTH OSSETIA” 7. Many articles on 8. Welt, Cory, “Balancing the Balancer: Russia, the West, and Conflict Resolution in Georgia” The Georgia-Russia War (2008) The Georgia-Russia War Georgia-Russia War map courtesy of The Economist The Georgia-Russia War of 2008 See also Wars and Conflicts of Georgia The Georgia-Russia War (2008)--After nearly two months of border clashes between Georgia and its breakaway region of South Ossetia, Georgia launched a major military offensive against South Ossetia which prompted Russia to intervene against Georgia. On the morning of August 7, the Georgian army invaded South Ossetian territory and moved on the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. By the end of August 8, the Georgians controlled most of the city.

When the war began, South Ossetia was defended by only 2,500 Ossetian militia and fewer than 600 Russian "peacekeeper" troops. Georgia's invasion force numbered nearly 7,500 American and Israeli-trained troops, with scores of tanks and armored personnel carriers. The well-trained Georgians also enjoyed a technological advantage over their foes; night-vision equipment and aerial drones. Georgian artillery and air strikes landed with effective precision due to their drone eyes-in-the-sky. Russian forces facing the Georgians do not have these technologies. Russian forces in South Ossetia, though aware that a conflict was coming, were caught by surprise by the timing of the Georgian assault. Events turned against the Georgians immediately as the numerically greater Russian Army crossed the border later on August 8, and battled Georgian forces outside Tskhinvali. Russia already had several hundred peacekeeping troops inside the city, who had suffered casualties in Georgian air attacks. Russian aircraft bombed the Georgian cities of Kareli, Gori, Vaziani, near Tbilisi and the military airfield in Marneuli, also near Tbilisi on August 8.

This bombing campaign was critical to Russia's rout of the Georgian military. Russia has obviously learned from other recent conflicts, including the Kosovo War , their own Chechen Wars , and the American Wars against Iraq in the 1990s as well as the current Iraq War . In those conflicts, swift and overpowering use of air power against enemy military facilities, air bases, and transportation and logistical targets disrupted the defender's plans and enabled the invading forces a powerful advantage. Marat Kulakhmetov, commander of the Russian forces in the region, claimed that Georgian shelling had destroyed most of Tskhinvali. Russian media reported heavy fighting between Russian and Georgian troops the night of Aug. 8/9, and Georgia reported Russian planes were bombing the Black Sea port of Poti. On August 9, Russian forces continued to enter South Ossetia, and continued to bomb targets in Georgia. Reports also indicated that the Russian navy was moving toward Georgia's Black Sea coast. By August 10, Russian air power continued to dominate the skies above Georgia, with bombing of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Also, the war expanded to the naval front, with the Russian navy deploying warships off the Georgian coast.

The Kremlin asserted that Russian forces sank a Georgian missile boat that attempted to attack Russian naval forces off the Black Sea coast. The Georgians said that Russian tanks had invaded Georgia proper, having moved south out of Ossetia into Georgian territory. The Ukraine, where the Russian ships are based, said that it had the right to deny re-docking privileges to the ships upon their return. Ukraine, like Georgia, has sought to move away from Russian influence and seek to join NATO. Also on the 10th, American military transport aircraft began ferrying Georgia's Iraq contingent back home to face the invading Russians. Russian and Abkhazian troops moved into the Georgian-controlled Kodori Gorge on on August 10, in a major expansion of the war. Russian ground forces also attacked the Georgian city of Gori, a major military and transportation hub.

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly told American Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in a phone call that the president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, "must go." This comment prompted the American Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, in a United Nations Security Council session, to charge that Russia's goal in the war was "regime change." The United States increased its public criticism of Russia on Sunday, August 10, as the Russians and their Abkhazian proxies opened a second front in their war against the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. As the U.S. Air Force ferried Georgia's Iraq contingent back home, American political and national security officials made some possibly disturbing public comments: "[Vice-President Dick] Cheney was even more pointed, telling [Georgian President] Saakashvili on Sunday afternoon that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered," according to his press secretary. Briefing reporters traveling with Bush on Sunday, Deputy National Security Adviser James F. Jeffrey would not rule out the use of American force to assist Georgia but said that was not the current focus of U.S. efforts.

"-- Washington Post, August 10, 2008 With ongoing American military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States realistically has few options in a military intervention in the Georgia-Russia War, short of an all-out war with Russia. On August 11, Russian troops were in the Georgian town of Senaki, site of previous rebellions against the Tbilisi government. Senaki is south of Abkhazia, and the presence of Russians in Senaki's Samegrelo province is significant in that is indicates that Russia will not be satisfied with merely ousting Georgian forces from the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian air power continued to pound the city of Gori, which is the birthplace of Joseph Stalin, at once best known as a powerfully ruthless Soviet leader, and the best known Georgian in history. Some reports indicated the fall of Gori to the Russians, while other reports denied the city's takeover. Gori is only 45 minutes from the capital of Tbilisi and contains a major Georgian military base.

An Analysis of the Georgia-Russia War of 2008 While the war itself is not yet over, several points can be examined in how this conflict unfolded and the early course of the war, as well as some apparent consequences of this Russia-Georgia war: --It now appears clear that Georgia was duped into attacking South Ossetia and that the Russians had laid a trap to make the Georgians fire the first shots, thereby letting Russia claim to be pushing back an aggressor. According to Stratfor , a private American intelligence company, Russian forces were pre-positioned near the border, therefore more able to respond quickly to attack the Georgians when they moved into South Ossetia on August 8. While the timing of the Georgian attack took the Russians by surprise, their inability to seize the South Ossetian capital and thus their delay in pushing on to the strategically important Roki Tunnel, allowed Russia to pour troops into Ossetia and force back the Georgian military. --Georgia assumed that because of their cooperation with America in Iraq , and their application to join NATO, America would be more proactive in helping Georgia against Russia. This appears to have been foolish and naive wishful thinking.

With major American military assets tied down in Iraq and Afghanistan , and with a possible Iran War looming, the United States is in no position to risk war with Russia. --Poland, which suffered from Russian invasions, massacres, and depredations multiple times in the 20th century, came to a quick agreement with the United States that will place an American missile defense base in Poland. This long-delayed agreement was reached by the Americans and Poles in an obvious response to what the Poles see as Russian aggression in Georgia. From the Al Jazeera: Russian tanks roll towards Tbilisi - 14 August 2008 From the Associate Press: A Russian convoy of troops were engaged in an intense firefight, presumably with Georgian soldiers at a bridge in Achabet, South Ossetia Monday. (Aug. 11) Sources and Links on the Russia-Georgia War of 2008: Between Georgia and South Ossetia, war-torn families, villages and vineyards — RT Op-Edge Tags Georgia , Russia , Politics , History , War witness , War If you stand with your back to the Georgian village of Ditsi, you can see picturesque mountains towering to your right.

South Ossetia is behind those mountains. And directly in front of the village, there is a field divided by a green painted fence. The fence is what marks the border between Georgia and South Ossetia, or a small part of the 400-kilometer demarcation line. Russia says the fence marks the old administrative border, while Georgia say Russia has moved it 300 meters inside Georgian territory. The problem is, for the five years after the war there has been no definite border – there were only checkpoints on country roads marking points along it. Now the border is clearly marked, but locals are finding that the border fence runs inconveniently through the middle of all manner of things. Through the middle of cemeteries, through pastures where for centuries shepherds used to take their flocks, and through forests where farmers went to get firewood and gather jonjolee, a mysterious plant which is the hallmark of Georgian cuisine. In some places, the border divides villages, it separates communities from their cemeteries and churches; and in some cases it even goes through people’s homes.

Georgians avoid using the name “South Ossetia,” preferring to call the land “occupied territory.” Patriarch Ilia II (the spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church and the only Georgian who has raised the question of borders personally with President Vladimir Putin) has avoided the issue by referring only to the city of Tskhinvali (called Tskhinval by South Ossetians). From the legal point of view, Georgians consider that there is no border, just like there are no diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia. So as sullen construction workers put up the fence, farmers gaze at it zigzagging through the countryside. Georgian police officers only come once in a while to take a look at the fence; if Georgia were to deploy border guards, this would mean that it recognizes the border as legitimate. Why the fence is so crooked is anybody’s guess. It was perfectly possible to draw a straight line. But the fence runs through the fields in a complex geometric pattern and disappears over the horizon. In about 20 yards from the last erected section of the fence, which sways back and forth in the wind, there are a few graves from the 1990s.

The relatives of the people buried here live in Ditsi. At this point, it is not clear whether the fence will go around the graves, to keep them on Georgian territory, or whether it will go the other way. A few days after I visited, one of the local farmers called me and said that the fence now separates the graves from the village. As I view the scene, I am accompanied by a Georgian police officer. He looks sad and doesn’t talk much. Actually, he is a college professor but he volunteered to join the police force – specifically to serve here at the border. He shows me poles with surveillance cameras and night vision cameras. He points out dugouts “on the other side,” which are used as some sort of temporary barracks. He asks me not to approach the border too closely in dangerous spots. Refugees from Erdevi In a little grove, a dozen men are sawing an old tree into pieces for firewood. They are all refugees from the Georgian village of Erdevi in South Ossetia. They fled here and settled in Ditsi. Some of them bought shacks and made them into houses; others live in rented houses.

Their village no longer exists; Erdevi was burned to the ground in the war. Vasily Beruashvili is 65. When he was young, he was a Soviet Air Force pilot in Odessa. Today, Odessa is a Ukrainian city. Vasily had several orchards and a field in Erdevi, two acres of land. Merab Midotashvili, 46, had three acres of land and an orchard. Badri Beruashvili, 41, had an orchard and two acres of land. Vasily, Merab and Badri say their village was first shelled, and then they were driven out of their village and their houses were torched. I ask them whether they still have papers for their houses and property. Vasily shakes his head: “What are you talking about? We had to flee right then. We were barely able to save our children. There was no time to think about things like papers or keys.” In South Ossetia, nobody has offered them any compensation for their land or homes. Those who had some money have purchased a place to live on the Georgian side; others have to rent a room, and work for board and lodgings.

Badri interjects that the Georgian government has offered some support: “The government helps us a little. They pay 24 lari ($15) a month per person. At first, they also sent us some food. Some people have received cottages from the government. They had a closet and a table.” There are approximately 500,000 refugees in Georgia; 33,000 people were displaced by the 2008 war, while others were forced out of their homes by earlier conflicts. Their comments about the Ossetians are, surprisingly, not negative. Vasily’s daughter-in-law is Ossetian. “When we fled, she came with us,” he says. “She lives with us today. She’s a good woman. She can only talk to her brothers by phone now. She can’t see them. She is Ossetian but she can’t go there to visit her family. Border guards won’t let her go – their border guards. A neighbor of ours tried going there and was arrested at the border.” The neighbor was kept in Tskhinvali four days after his arrest.

He came back home scared to death, and refuses to say what happened to him, Vasily says. When Vasily talks about the people who drove them out of their village, the people putting up the fence, and the people arresting them at the border, he always calls them Russians. “I can’t talk to them. They are armed, I can’t ask them anything. To us, they are Russians.” “But I am also Russian, and you’re talking to me. Or do you hate me, too?” I ask him. “We don’t hate anybody,” Vasily says. “We don’t hate women; we don’t hate men. It is not people’s fault. It is the fault of our former ruler and their leaders over there.” A house divided In this village houses are empty, and trees are abandoned. Levan brings me some apricots from his beautiful garden; he’s too scared to give me an interview, he’s scared to lose his job, and he’s scared that things can get even worse. “This used to be my garden,” he says, looking at his vineyard, his vines all covered with waist-high grass. “Look, do you see barbed wire over there? There’s an Ossetian house behind it.

And here they set up the barbed wire border right through my house. They cut my house in half. Why?” This is a two-storied house, built for a big family. Levan says his grandfather started building it, and his father continued. It was a labor of love, designed to withstand the ages, he says. But now all he can do is to come here and look at the ruins. He failed to save the Georgian cross that used to hang on the wall, and he failed to save the house itself. “You see over there, behind the barbed wire, there used to be a Georgian school. It was the first building to be demolished. My grandfather was building it for 25 years; we just needed to do some interior finishing. Now we live over there,” he says, pointing toward Georgian territory. “They temporarily gave us a room in the school. There are seven of us living there. My whole family…” I asked him whether he tried to persuade the border guards not to divide the house. “It’s impossible to talk to them,” Levan says.

“They come with barbed wire and do what they want.” In one place, the fence was constructed smack through the middle of his grandfather’s vineyard; they just took the wire out of the wooden espaliers that used to support the vines. “They took my wire and built their border,” Levan says. “Just like in that movie, ‘Father of a Soldier.’ You remember?” I do, of course, as people in both Russia and Georgia love this film. It’s a black-and-white, Soviet-era drama, filmed 50 years ago. It’s about an old Georgian man who is looking for his son during World War II and telling a tank crewman how to grow the vines. Everybody in Georgia, one of the world’s oldest wine-growing countries, knows this movie off by heart.There’s even a new, colorized version of this movie now, and you can now watch it on TV. I wonder what would happen if TV would show could see this vineyard. Would governments still insist that the border runs through the middle of it? A Georgian cut off from Georgia As I stand on the border, between me and an elderly couple are four lines of barbed wire.

I stretch my hand through it to shake the hand of the man standing opposite me. He’ll be turning 80 soon. A Georgian by birth and citizenship, he’s been cut off from his native country since last spring. He asks to remain anonymous. His elderly wife tells him to step aside from the barbed wire. If someone spots him here, it could mean trouble, she says. The old man tells me: “They took me to Tskhinvali and told me never to talk to journalists, no matter where they come from – Russia, Georgia or Ossetia. Don’t come close to the fence, they said. Step 10 meters aside and talk over the phone, they told me.” With irony, he notes that his phone is still connected to a Georgian network. “Sometimes they barge in to check my papers,” he says. “I haven’t got any, except for my Georgian passport.” He still receives his pension in lari, the Georgian currency. But they don’t accept lari in his local store. “Tea and dry bread, that’s my menu,” he says. “I’ve got a wife and a grandson. He’s 24.” The old man has two daughters.

One is married and lives in a village in Georgia. “Neither she nor her children are allowed to cross it, so I can only see and talk to her through the wire. My second daughter lives in Ordzhonikidze,” he says, using the pre-1991 name for the city now called Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, in Russia. (Even the city’s name is politically sensitive for Georgians and Ossetians: It was named for Sergo Ordzhonikidze, a leading Georgian Bolshevik who led the Soviet invasion of Georgia in 1921. He later committed suicide in 1937, at the height of Stalin’s purges.) The old man can’t cross the border from South Ossetia to North Ossetia to visit her, either – his Georgian passport is the problem. “I’m like in a prison – they pass me bread through the fence. How can I survive? Tell them about it,” he says. He and his family are the only residents left in the village. A neighbor on the Georgian side left for Gori, the nearest town, because his garden turned out to be on the South Ossetian side of the border.

“He once came here from Gori and asked me to pick up the fruit left over in his garden,” says the old man. “I took the bag, collected what was still left there and gave it to him over the fence. He’s not allowed here. All around are empty homes. My brother died. My mother, my father and brother are buried in Gori. But the Russians won’t let me go there.” He watches three border guards with guard dogs walking across his cornfield every day – morning, afternoon and evening. “They say, ‘If we catch you, we’ll throw you into a Russian jail, not here in Tskhinvali. You won’t ever taste local water again.’” The supreme irony is that the 2008 war was never actually fought here, on this land, he says. “It’s part of South Ossetia, they say. How on earth can it be South Ossetia? I built my house 33 years ago here. I’ve been living here for 80 years now. It’s been part of Gori for 80 years, and now it’s South Ossetia all of a sudden.

If a chicken or pig sneaks under the fence, it’s gone for good. How am I supposed to go looking for it?” The old man says he’s been offered a South Ossetian passport, but he declined. Dreams of reconciliation In the village of Gugutiankari, there’s no fence across the meadows – just a stream marking the border. But it’s best not to cross it, says an old farmer who lives on the Georgian side. “We used to have a church. Now it’s beyond the border,” he says. “We are farmers, and they are farmers. We are Christians, and they are Christians. But our priest isn’t allowed to go there.” Shepherds who cross the stream have been fined 5,000 rubles ($160), the farmer says. The farmer says villagers would welcome reconciliation with South Ossetia. “The houses were burnt so that people would not return. The pastures are gone. There’s no central water system any longer. And you’ve got those Russian border guards walking along the hill. What are they doing there? Who are they guarding and against whom? It seems that Christians are guarding Christians against Christians." Another man sums up the general feeling of the villagers.

“Will Russia make peace? We’d love to heal the breach, and we will if they don’t get in our way.” The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

Question: The South Ossetia war was fought between Russia and which other country?
Answer: Georgia