GeorgianOssetian conict

For the conict from 1918 to 1920, see Georgian asked the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian Soviet SocialOssetian conict (191820).
ist Republic for the status of the region to be upgraded
to that of autonomous republic. However this application
Georgians besieged
The GeorgianOssetian conict is an ethno-political was rejected on 16 November and the
Tskhinvali on 23 November 1989.[6]
conict over Georgias former autonomous region of
South Ossetia, which evolved in 1989 and developed into South Ossetia declared about its state sovereignty on 20
a 19911992 South Ossetia War. Despite a declared September 1990. In October 1990, the Georgian parceasere and numerous peace eorts, the conict re- liamentary elections were boycotted by South Ossetia,
mained unresolved. In August 2008, military tensions which held elections to its own parliament in December
and clashes between Georgia and South Ossetian sepa- of the same year.[5] On 11 December 1990, the Georgian
ratists erupted into the Russo-Georgian War.
Parliament passed a bill that eectively abolished South
Ossetias autonomous status.[6] Russia intervened and a
state of emergency was declared in South Ossetia.[7]

1
1.1

Origins of the conict

On May 4, 1991, the South Ossetian Parliament declared

its intention to separate from Georgia and to unite with
the North Ossetia, which was located within the borders
of the Russian Federation.[6]

Early years of the Soviet Union

See also: GeorgianOssetian conict (19181920)

2 Post-Soviet timeline

The conict between Georgian and Ossetians dates back

until at least 1918. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, Georgia declared independence (26 May 1918)
under Mensheviks, while the Bolsheviks took control of
Russia. In June 1920, a Russian-sponsored Ossetian
force attacked the Georgian Army and Peoples Guard.
The Georgians responded vigorously and defeated the
insurgents, with several Ossetian villages being burnt
down and 20,000 Ossetians displaced in Soviet Russia.[1]
Eight months later, the Red Army successfully invaded
Georgia.[2]

2.1 19911992 South Ossetia War

Main article: 19911992 South Ossetia War
Amidst rising ethnic tensions, war broke out when
Georgian forces entered the capital of South Ossetia,
Tskhinvali.[8] More than 2,000 people are believed to
have been killed in the war.[9] The separatists were helped
by former Soviet military units, who by now had come under Russian command.[10] Approximately 100,000 Ossetians ed Georgia proper and South Ossetia, while 23,000
Georgians left South Ossetia.[11] A ceasere agreement
(the Sochi Agreement) was reached on 24 June 1992.
While it ended the war, it did not deal with the status of South Ossetia. A Joint Control Commission for
GeorgianOssetian Conict Resolution and peacekeeping force, composed of Russian, Georgian and Ossetian
troops, was set up. The Ossetian de facto government
controlled the region independently from Tbilisi.[12] The
JPKFs activities were mainly concentrated in the Conict Zone, which included an area within a 15-km radius
from Tskhinvali.[13]

The Soviet Georgian government, established after the

Red Army invasion of Georgia in 1921, created an autonomous administrative unit for Transcaucasian Ossetians in April 1922 under pressure from Kavburo (the
Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the
Russian Communist Party), called the South Ossetian
Autonomous Oblast.[3] Some believe that the Bolsheviks
granted this autonomy to the Ossetians in exchange for
their help in ghting the Democratic Republic of Georgia and favoring local separatists, since this area had never
been a separate entity prior to the Russian invasion.[4]

1.2

Late years of the Soviet Union

The separatists retained control over the districts of

Tskhinvali, Java, Znauri and parts of Akhalgori. The
In the late 1980s, Ossetian nationalistic organization, Tbilisi central government controlled the rest of AkhalAdamon Nikhas (Voice of the People) was created.[5] On gori and the Georgian villages in the Tskhinvali
10 November 1989, the South Ossetian Supreme Soviet district.[14]
1

2.2

TIMELINE BEFORE 2008

1992-2003

In 1996, the Ergneti market was opened and soon became

the place where Georgians and South Ossetians traded. In
1996, Lyudvig Chibirov won the presidential elections. A
memorandum on Measures for providing security and
condence building was signed in Moscow on 16 May
1996, which was regarded as the rst step towards a rapprochement between Georgia and the separatists of South
Ossetia. This was followed up by several meetings between President of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, and
de facto President of South Ossetia Chibirov. They met
in Vladikavkaz in 1996, in Java in 1997, and in Borjomi
in 1998. These resulted in some positive developments
as the talks about IDP return, economic development, a
political solution to the issues, and the protection of the
population in the conict zone.[15]
There was no military confrontation for twelve years.
While the peace process was frozen, Ossetians and
Georgians engaged in lively exchanges and uncontrolled
trade.[14] The unresolved conict encouraged development of such illegal activities as kidnapping, drugtracking and arms trading. Up to the end of 2003, a
number of law enforcement ocials from South Ossetia
and Georgia proper allegedly were participating in criminal economic activities. Authorities on both sides report- Detailed map of South Ossetia showing the secessionist and
edly co-operated to prot from illegal trade, as did Rus- Georgian-controlled territories, November 2004.
sian customs and peacekeeping troops.[16]

3
3.1

Timeline before 2008

The 2004 are-up

When Mikheil Saakashvili was elected President in 2004,

he made his goal to return the breakaway regions of
Georgia under central control.[17]
Following the success in Adjara, President Mikheil
Saakashvilis government turned their attention to South
Men from the 11th elite battalion of the Georgian Army charging
Ossetia.[18][19]
up a hill where Ossetian rebels were entrenched.

In June, the Georgians shut down the Ergneti market,

which was a major trading point for contraband goods.
This made the situation more tense.[20][21] Georgias re- statement concerning the aggravation of situation around
gional administration began to restore the alternative road South Ossetia and Abkhazia in connection with political
to Didi Liakhvi.[21]
actions of Georgian authorities. The statement warned
On 7 July, Georgian peacekeepers intercepted a Russian that Russia could get involved in the conict and would
convoy.[22] The next day around 50 Georgian peacekeep- take appropriate actions in case the lives of Russian citers were disarmed and detained by the South Ossetian izens were jeopardized.[26] Hundreds of Russian volunmilitias.[23] The Georgian peacekeepers captured were teers, mainly Cossacks, stated their readiness to protect
all released on 9 July, with three exceptions.[24] On 11 the people of South Ossetia should the conict escalate
July 2004, Georgian president Saakashvili said the cri- any further.[27]
sis in South Ossetia is not a problem between Georgians The tensions increased on the night of 1011 August,
and Ossetians. This is a problem between Georgia and when Georgian and South Ossetian villages in the area
Russia.[25]
north of Tskhinvali, came under re and civilians were
On 5 August 2004, Russian State Duma issued an ocial injured. Georgian and South Ossetian members of the

3.3

2006 attack on a Georgian helicopter

A Georgian sniper takes aim at Ossetian rebels.

JPFK are said to have been involved in the exchange of

re. On 13 August, Georgian Prime Minister Zhvania
and de facto South Ossetian President Kokoev agreed on
a ceasere, which was breached multiple times by both
sides. During the tensions in July and August, 17 Georgians and 5 Ossetians were killed. In emergency sessions
of the JCC on 17 and 18 August in Tbilisi and Tskhinvali,
the sides debated complex ceasere proposals and demilitarization projects. At the same time, they expected ghting to resume and used the truce to improve their military
positions and strengthen defences. A ceasere agreement
was reached on 19 August.[5]
On 24 August, in an interview broadcast by Imedi television, the chairman of the Georgian parliaments Defense
and Security Committee, Givi Targamadze said that Russian military was prepared to launch a strike into Georgian territory, but the raid was preempted by Saakashvilis
decision on August 19 to withdraw Georgian forces from
strategic positions in South Ossetia. Targamadze said
the Georgian government possessed secretly recorded
video of Russian military preparations near the Georgian
border.[28]
At a high level meeting between Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and South Ossetian leader Eduard
Kokoity on 5 November in Sochi, Russia, an agreement on demilitarization of the conict zone was reached.
Some exchange of re continued in the zone of conict
after the ceasere, apparently primarily initiated by the
Ossetian side.[29][30]

3.2

New peace eorts

3
order, organization of local self-governance and environmental protection. At the same time South Ossetia would
have a voice in the national structures of government as
well, with a constitutional guarantee of representation in
the judicial and constitutional-judicial branches and in
the Parliament. Georgia would commit to improving the
economic and social conditions of South Ossetian inhabitants. Saakashvili proposed a transitional 3-year conict resolution period, during which time mixed Georgian
and Ossetian police forces, under the guidance and auspices of international organizations, would be established
and Ossetian forces would gradually be integrated into a
united Georgian Armed Force. Saakashvili also said that
the international community should play a more signicant and visible role in solving this conict.[31][32]
Zurab Zhvanias premature death in February 2005 was a
setback in the conict resolution.[33]

3.3 2006 attack on a Georgian helicopter

On 3 September 2006, the South Ossetian forces opened
re at a Georgian MI-8 helicopter carrying Defense Minister of Georgia, Irakli Okruashvili, when it ew over
the separatist-held territory. It landed safely in Georgian
government-controlled territory. Although the South Ossetian authorities reported that the Georgian helicopter
had entered their air space and red shots at the ground,
the Georgians denied the charge that shots had come from
the helicopter. The South Ossetian ocials conrmed
their troops were responsible for the attack, but rejected
the claim that the aircraft was targeted because of prior
intelligence that Okruashvili was on board. We are not
interested in having either Okruashvili or [Georgian president Mikheil] Saakashvili killed, as they are helping us to
achieve independence, declared South Ossetian interior
minister Mikhail Mindzayev.[34]

3.4 2006 October incident

On October 31, 2006, the South Ossetian police reported
a skirmish in the Java, Georgia district in which they
killed a group of 4 men.[35][36] The weapons seized from
the group included assault ries, guns, grenade launchers, grenades and explosive devices. Other items found
in the militants possession included extremist Wahhabi
literature, maps of Java district and sets of Russian peacekeeping uniforms. Those ndings led the South Ossetian
authorities to conclude that the militants were planning to
carry out acts of sabotage and terrorist attacks. The South
Ossetian authorities identied the men as Chechens from
Georgias Pankisi Gorge. South Ossetia accused Georgia
of hiring the Chechen mercenaries to carry out terrorist
attacks in the region.[35]

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili presented a

new vision for resolving the South Ossetian conict at
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) session in Strasbourg, on 26 January 2005. His
proposal included broader forms of autonomy, including
a constitutional guarantee of free and directly elected local self-governance. Saakashvili stated that South Osse- The Georgian side atly denied its involvement in the intias parliament would have control over issues such as cident. Shota Khizanishvili, a spokesperson for the Georculture, education, social policy, economic policy, public gian Interior Ministry, supposed that the incident could

4 EVENTS IN 2008

be connected to internal conicts in South Ossetia.[35]

3.5

plane ew from Russian to Georgian airspace and back

three times.[46]

Rival elections of 2006

On 12 November 2006, presidential election and referendum were held in South Ossetia. The separatistcontrolled part of the region re-elected Eduard Kokoity
as de facto president and voted for independence from
Georgia.[6] In the areas under Georgias control, the Ossetian opposition organized rival polls electing Dmitry
Sanakoyev, as an alternative president and voted for negotiations with Georgia on a future federal agreement.[37]
The pro-Georgian government was never able to draw signicant support away from the separatist authorities.[38]

4 Events in 2008
4.1 Pre-war clashes
Events prior to August 2008 are described in 2008 RussoGeorgian diplomatic crisis.

4.2 2008 War in South Ossetia

Main article: Russo-Georgian War

3.6

Georgias new initiative

On 29 March 2007, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned

in a statement that Tbilisis plan to set up a temporary administrative unit in the part of breakaway South Ossetia
would shatter an already fragile situation.[39] On 10 May
2007, Dmitry Sanakoyev was appointed as head of the
Provisional Administrative Entity of South Ossetia by the
President of Georgia. The next day, Sanakoyev addressed
the Parliament of Georgia, outlining his vision of the conict resolution plan.[40][41] In response the South Ossetian
separatists enforced mass blockade of Georgian villages
in the conict zone and Eduard Kokoity demanded the
withdrawal of Georgian special-task troops and South Ossetias interim government headed by alternative president Dmitri Sanakoev.[42]
On 24 July 2007, Tbilisi held its rst state commission to dene South Ossetias status within the Georgian state. Chaired by Georgian Prime Minister Zurab
Noghaideli, the commission included Georgian parliamentarians, representatives of the Ossetian community in
Georgia and representatives of several Georgian human
rights organisations. The talks were held with Sanakoevs
administration.[43]
Sanakoyevs supporters launched a campaign against
Kokoity named Kokoity Fandarast (Goodbye
Kokoity in Ossetian language).[44]

3.7

Tsitelubani missile incident 2007

Main article: 2007 Georgia missile incident

On 6 August 2007, a missile landed, but did not explode, in the village of Tsitelubani, some 65 km (40
mi) from Tbilisi. Georgian ocials said that Russian
attack aircraft, an SU-24 Fencer, violated its airspace
and red Raduga Kh-58 anti-radar tactically guided
missile.[45] Russia denied the allegations. The group
of defense specialists from the United States, Sweden,
Latvia, and Lithuania stated late on 15 August that the

Tensions between Georgia and Russia began escalating in

April 2008.[47][48][49] South Ossetian separatists committed the rst act of violence when they blew up a Georgian military vehicle on 1 August 2008. The explosion
wounded ve Georgian peacekeepers. In response,[50]
Georgian snipers assaulted the South Ossetian militiamen during the evening.[51] Ossetian separatists began
shelling Georgian villages on 1 August, with a sporadic
response from Georgian peacekeepers and other troops
in the region.[47][51][52] Serious incidents happened in the
following week after Ossetian attacks on Georgian villages and positions in South Ossetia.[53][54]
At around 19:00 on 7 August 2008, Georgian president
Mikheil Saakashvili announced a unilateral ceasere and
no-response order.[55] However, Ossetian separatists intensied their attacks on Georgian villages located in
the South Ossetian conict zone. Georgian troops returned re and advanced towards the capital of the selfproclaimed Republic of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, during the night of 8 August.[56][57] According to Russian
military expert Pavel Felgenhauer, the Ossetians were intentionally provoking the Georgians, so Russia would use
the Georgian response as a pretext for premeditated military invasion.[58] According to Georgian intelligence,[59]
and several Russian media reports, parts of the regular
(non-peacekeeping) Russian Army had already moved to
South Ossetian territory through the Roki Tunnel before
the Georgian military operation.[60]
The centre of Tskhinvali was reached by 1,500 men of
the Georgian ground forces by 10:00 on 8 August.[61] One
Georgian diplomat told Kommersant on the same day that
by taking control of Tskhinvali they wanted to demonstrate that Georgia wouldn't tolerate killing of Georgian citizens.[62] Russia falsely accused Georgia of aggression against South Ossetia,[4] and launched a largescale invasion of Georgia under the guise of peacekeeping operation on 8 August.[53] Russian military captured
Tskhinvali in ve days and expelled Georgian forces.
Russia also launched airstrikes against military infrastructure in Georgia.[63] Abkhaz forces opened a second front

5
by attacking the Kodori Gorge, held by Georgia.[64] Russian forces occupied the Georgian cities of Zugdidi,[65]
Senaki,[66] Poti,[67] and Gori (the last one after the ceasere was negotiated).[68] Russian Black Sea Fleet blockaded the Georgian coast.[53]
Both during and after the war, South Ossetian forces and
irregular militia conducted a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Georgians in South Ossetia,[69] with Georgian villages around Tskhinvali being destroyed after the
war had ended.[70] The war displaced 192,000 people,[71]
and while many were able to return to their homes after
the war, a year later around 30,000 ethnic Georgians remained displaced.[72] In an interview published in Kommersant, South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said he
would not allow Georgians to return.[73][74]
President of France Nicolas Sarkozy negotiated a ceasere agreement on 12 August 2008.[75] On 17 August,
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev announced that Russian forces would begin to pull out of Georgia the following day.[76] Russian forces withdrew from the buer zones
adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia on 8 October and
control over them was transferred to the European Union
Monitoring Mission in Georgia.[77]

Politics of Georgia

7 References
[1] A Modern History of Georgia, pp. 2289. Lang, David
Marshall (1962). London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. In
the spring of the following year, the Caucasian Bureau of
the All-Russian Communist Party formed a special South
Ossetian Revolutionary Committee to lead an armed revolt
against the Georgian government. A Russian-sponsored
Ossete force crossed the border from Vladikavkaz in June
1920 and attacked the Georgian Army and Peoples Guard.
The Georgians reacted with vigour and defeated the insurgents and their supporters in a series of hard-fought battles. Five thousand people perished in the ghting and
20,000 Ossetes ed into Soviet Russia. The Georgian Peoples Guard displayed a frenzy of chauvinistic zeal during
the mopping-up operations, many villages being burnt to
the ground and large areas of fertile land ravaged and depopulated.
[2] A Modern History of Georgia, pp. 2326. Lang, David
Marshall (1962). London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
[3] [Ossetian Question] (in Russian). Tbilisi. 1994. pp. 153161.

After the 2008 war

On 26 August 2008, Russia ocially recognized both

South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.[78]
On 4 August 2009, it was reported that tensions were rising before the wars rst anniversary on 8 August. The
European Union urged all sides to refrain from any statement or action that may lead to increased tensions at this
particularly sensitive time.[79]
In 2015, the prosecutor of the International Criminal
Court requested authorisation from the Courts Judges to
begin an investigation into the alleged war crimes in relation to the conict. This case includes alleged crimes
committed as part of a campaign to expel ethnic Georgians from South Ossetia as well as attacks on peacekeepers by Georgian and South Ossetian forces.[80]
Russian and Ossetian troops expanded the border into
Georgia, evicting ethnic Georgians from their homes.[81]

See also
AbkhazGeorgian conict
South Ossetian independence referendum, 2006
International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia
East Prigorodny Conict
Georgian Civil War

[4] Russian Federation: Legal Aspects of War in Georgia.

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[81] http://www.politico.eu/article/
vladimir-putins-mysterious-moving-border/

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

GeorgianOssetian conict Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian%E2%80%93Ossetian_conflict?oldid=741057485 Contributors: Altenmann, PBP, Mattaschen, Cordell, JamesMLane, MaGioZal, Everyking, Bobblewik, Kjetil r, Sonjaaa, Nograpes, Untier,
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8.2

Images

File:040_South_Ossetia_war.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/040_South_Ossetia_war.JPG License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: by user:jalpeyrie, via email Original artist: Jonathan Alpeyrie
File:Arms_of_Georgia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Arms_of_Georgia.svg License: CC0 Contributors: File:Lesser coat of arms of Georgia.svg Original artist: User:Rastrelli F
File:Flag_of_Georgia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Flag_of_Georgia.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work based on File:Brdzanebuleba 31.pdf Original artist: User:SKopp
File:Flag_of_Russia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/Flag_of_Russia.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_South_Ossetia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Flag_of_South_Ossetia.svg License:
Public domain Contributors: The law on State ag of South Ossetia Original artist: Various
File:Georgia_high_detail_map.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Georgia_high_detail_map.png License: Public domain Contributors: United Nations Cartographic Section Original artist: United Nations Cartographic Section, with amendments by User:ChrisO
File:Georgian_sniper_during_South_Ossetia_war.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Georgian_
sniper_during_South_Ossetia_war.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: by user:jalpeyrie, via email Original artist: Jonathan Alpeyrie
File:SouthOssetia_region_detailed_map.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/SouthOssetia_region_
detailed_map.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: International Crisis Group: South Ossetia Region (PDF), part of Georgia: Avoiding
War in South Ossetia (PDF) Original artist: International Crisis Group

8.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0