Georgia - the war against the unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia.

[Olga]

On 20th September 1990  South Ossetia declared its independence from Georgia. The first South Ossetia supreme power election was in December 9 1990. But Georgia acknowledged the election to be illegitimate and decreed to abolish sovereignty of the new unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia, and on the next day the Georgian government implemented the state of emergency on the territory of South Ossetia. On 6th January 1991 Georgia put its army on the territory of South Ossetia, activated the operations and started the blockade of the autonomy of South Ossetia. As result more than 10 thousand people left South Ossetia for North Ossetia and about 30 thousand Ossetians left Georgia. During the armed conflicts 1991-1992 about 300 Osetians disappeared without a trace, more than 40 thousand got status of refugee, and more than 100 Ossetian rural area were destroyed by Georgian army.

The armed conflicts were stopped when Boris Yeltsin and Eduard Shevardnadze signed the Dagomys agreements.

South Ossetia became an independent republic in January 1992 de facto, but Georgia could not let it go.

In 2004 Mikheil Saakashvili has became the president of Georgia, and the main subject-target of his presidential campaign has been South Ossetia. He has violated the Dagomys agreements.

Georgia vs. South Ossetia: roots of a 100-year conflict
http://www.russiatod....com/news/news/28654

[Olga]

On 8th August 2008 Georgia declared the war against South Ossetia.

The Georgian military attacked the capital of breakaway South Ossetia on Friday with tanks and infantry and bombed a village, despite a ceasefire declared by Georgia, the separatist government said.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had declared a unilateral ceasefire late on Thursday, soon before the UN Security Council gathered for an emergency meeting amid fears of full-scale war breaking out in the region.

The South Ossetian government said Georgian tanks and infantry attacked Tskhinvali, and that a large part of the city has been destroyed. Over 15 civilians have been killed, several buildings are on fire in the city center, and the local parliament building has burned down, the government said.

The rebel administration also said Georgian Su-25 Frogfoot attack planes have bombed the South Ossetian village of Kvernet as well as a humanitarian aid convoy.

At the Security Council session, Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin called on the council to intervene to stop violence in the region.

The Kremlin said Russia's leadership is also holding emergency talks on the conflict, and is considering urgent measures to end the violence.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev "is heading a meeting to discuss a series of urgent measures to stop the violence in South Ossetia, to protect the civilian population and Russian citizens in the conflict zone, considering that Russian peacekeepers have a mandate there, and to safeguard Russian interests in the region," the Kremlin press service said.

http://en.rian.ru/wo...80808/115886945.html


Time line: Georgia-Ossetia armed conflict, August 8

23:25 GMT - Georgia resumes intensive shelling of Tskhinvali's residential quarters.

22:50 GMT - Heavy shelling reported in Tskhinvali.

22:00 GMT - Georgia resumes intensive fire on residential areas in Tskhinvali, the Peacekeepers' commander says, reports TASS news agency.

21:27 GMT - South Ossetia's military have downed a Georgian attack plane, the Russian Vesti television channel reports. The fall of the blazing plane was videotaped. The fate of the pilot remains unknown.

21:25 GMT - Georgia announces plans to withdraw half of its peacekeeping contingent in Iraq because of the South Ossetian crisis.

21:22 GMT - South Ossetia is fully in control of Tskhinvali, but Georgia is making attempts to retake the city, accordign to the self-proclaimed republic's official spokeswoman Irina Gagloyeva.

20:36 GMT - The UN Security Council has begun closed-door consultations to discuss the situation in South Ossetia. The meeting, initiated by Georgia, is the second in 24 hours.

20:25 GMT - Georgia asks US to put pressure on Russia to "stop the armed aggression" in South Ossetia

19:19 GMT - Twelve Russian peacekeepers killed and 50 injured in South Ossetia, according to Russian Army Assistant Commander Col. Igor Konashenkov.

19:08 GMT - President Dmitry Medvedev says: “Russia is taking adequate military and political measures to put an end to violence in South Ossetia.”

18:56 GMT - The breakaway region’s government says Tskhinvali is fully under South Ossetian control, but fighting over one of the city's districts is continuing.

18:36 GMT - Russian Emergencies Ministry plane has taken off from Moscow region. It will deliver a mobile hospital to North Ossetia to help refugees from  the south.

18:31 GMT - South Ossetian armed units deployed near Tskhinvali have started firing at Georgian military positions, according to Georgian media.

17:48 GMT – Georgia admits up to 30 causalities on its side during the offensive.

17:35 GMT – In a televised address, Georgian President Saakashvili claims Georgia ‘controls Tskhinvali and most South Ossetian villages and regions.

17:22 GMT – Hundreds of volunteers enter South Ossetia from Russian territory.

17:20 GMT – South Ossetia calls on the world to ‘stop the genocide’ in the region and recognise its independence.

17:03 GMT – Ossetian leader Kokoity says 1,400 people were killed in Friday's confrontation.

16:55 GMT – Georgia withdraws half of its troops from Iraq.

16:46 GMT – Thousands of people continue to flee the violence in South Ossetia. Most of the refugees are sheltered by their relatives in North Ossetia.

16:32 GMT – Abkhazian troops vow to march on towards the border with Georgia regardless of developments in South Ossetia.

16:14 GMT – Russian Air Force denies bombing a Georgian military base.

15:50 GMT – Russian troops will suppress any fire from Georgian forces aimed at South Ossetia, warns Russia’s Defence Ministry.

15:14 GMT – Russia bans flights to and from Georgia, starting at midnight on Friday.

15:03 GMT – UN Security council to discuss the situation in South Ossetia on Friday night at 19:00 GMT.

14:52 GMT - Shootings cease in Tskhivali as people check damages.

14:35 GMT – Ossetian authorities report more then a thousand dead in Tskhinvali.

14:23 GMT – Mass fires reported in Tskhinvali.

1410 GMT – South Ossetian President Kokoyti announces the breakaway republic’s troops are driving Georgian forces away.

14:05 GMT – Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Tskhinvali, according to South Ossetian President Kokoyti.

14:01 GMT – Georgian Foreign Ministry calls on the world community to make Russia ‘understand, that invading a sovereign state is unacceptable’.

13:43 GMT – President Medvedev orders Prime Minister, Emergencies Minister and Interior Minister to organise humanitarian aid for South Ossetia.

13:25 GMT – Russian Defence Ministry accuses Georgian troops of shooting at peacekeepers and civilians and denying them medical help.

13:21 GMT – Russian Defence Ministry confirms more then 10 Russian peacekeepers have been killed in South Ossetia on Friday and 30 others wounded.

13:16 GMT – Saakashvili accuses Russia of ‘waging a war’ against Georgia, asks for U.S. support.

12:57 GMT – International community must stop turning a blind eye on mass arms purchases by Georgia, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

12:55 GMT – Russian FM Sergey Lavrov accuses Georgia of ethnical cleansing in Ossetian villages.

12:37 GMT – "If Russia indeed sent its troops to Georgian territory, it means we are at war with Russia," said head of Georgian national security council.

12:34 GMT – Russian envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin calls on the alliance’s member states not to support Saakashvili.

12:31 GMT – Georgian Parliament speaker David Bargadze accuses Russia of ‘military aggression’, and threatens to use ‘all means necessary to protect the country’s sovereignty’.

12:22 GMT – Germany’s leader Angela Merkel calls for an immediate end to the use of force.

12:19 GMT – Tskhinvali residents emerge from shelters after a lull in fighting, report Ossetian peacekeepers. The city is short of water and electricity has been cut in many areas. Telephone communications are difficult.

12:13 GMT – Georgia accuses Russia of bombing its military base near Tbilisi.

12:04 GMT – Russia’s Defence Ministry announces it has sent peacekeeping reinforcements to South Ossetia

11:57 GMT – Peacekeepers report South Ossetians destroy several Georgian tanks, re-take Tskhinvali.

11:41 GMT – Russian communists and liberal democrats call for State Duma meeting to discuss the situation in South Ossetia.

11:33 GMT – South Ossetia reports that Russian armoured vehicles have entered Tskhinvali.

11:25 GMT – Tskhinvali ‘completely destroyed’ after massive shelling by Gerogian troops, reports head of peacekeeping force.

11:17 GMT – Georgia gives South Ossetians three hours to surrender.

11:12 GMT – International Red Cross Committee is ‘deeply concerned’ with the humanitarian situation in South Ossetia.

11:02 GMT – PACE will support any effort to resolve the conflict in South Ossetia peacefully.

10:59 GMT – South Ossetia accuses Georgian hackers of attacking its Information Ministry’s website.

10:58 GMT – Russia will not allow the death of its citizens go unpunished, says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

10:56 GMT – Wounded people from South Ossetia start arriving to North Ossetian hospitals.

10:45 GMT – Keeping volunteers away from South Ossetia ‘will be difficult’, says Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who’s visiting China for the opening of the Olympics

10:33 GMT – Georgia announces a three-hour ceasefire starting from 11:00 GMT to let civilians out of the conflict zone.

10:26 GMT – Transdniester may allow volunteers to fight in South Ossetia, says region’s Foreign Ministry.

10:23 GMT – Peacekeepers ask Abkhazia not to send  its troops into the demilitarized zone.

09:53 GMT – British Foreign Office calls on the two sides to stop military actions and resume negotiations.

09:36 GMT – Georgia’s aggression gives the Russian Parliament a ‘serious reason’ to recognise South Ossetia’s independence, says chair of Federation Council Sergey Mironov.

09:21 GMT – NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer calls for an immediate to violence in South Ossetia.

09:05 GMT – Russian Defence Ministry says it won’t let Georgia harm peacekeepers and Russian citizens.

08:32 GMT – The European Commission’s head of foreign policy tells Mikhail Saakashvili to do everything necessary to stop violence in South Ossetia.

08:18 GMT – Firefight spreads to Tskhinvali streets, reports head of peacekeeping force.

07:49 GMT –Emergencies Ministry ready to evacuate Russian citizens from South Ossetia if ordered to.

07:44 GMT – Abkhazian forces move to border with Georgia and concentrate near the demilitarised zone.

07:44 GMT – Mikhail Saakasvili says Russia has launched a full-scale military operation against Georgia.

07:20 GMT – Georgian Minister of Reintegration asks the international community to stop putting pressure on Tbilisi and help find a compromise.

07:02 GMT – Russian Migration Service ready to deal with refugees from South Ossetia.

06:51 GMT – UN Security Council fails to approve a Russia-sponsored ceasefire call.

06:17 GMT – Firefight intensifies at Tskhinvali outskirts, says South Ossetian President Kokoyti.

05:57 GMT – Georgia pledges to pardon South Ossetian leadership and invest $US 35 million into the region

05:28 GMT – North Ossetia prepares for the arrival of more than 2,000 refugees

05:01 GMT – South Ossetia asks Russia for protection and to help it stop the bloodshed

04:13 GMT – Georgian troops resume attack on the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali.
http://www.russiatod....com/news/news/28664

[Olga]

Russia points to media bias in coverage of S.Ossetia conflict

A top Russian diplomat accused foreign media on Sunday of pro-Georgian bias in their coverage of the ongoing conflict between Georgia and Russia over breakaway South Ossetia.

Russia says Georgian forces have killed around 2,000 South Ossetian civilians, mainly Russian nationals, in attacks that began on Friday, and that 34,000 locals have been forced to flee to Russia. In response to the Georgian offensive, Russia sent tanks and troops into the province, and carried out a series of air strikes on Georgian military targets.

"We want television screens in the West to be showing not only Russian tanks, and texts saying Russia is at war in South Ossetia and with Georgia, but also to be showing the suffering of the Ossetian people, the murdered elderly people and children, the destroyed towns of South Ossetia, and [regional capital] Tskhinvali. This would be an objective way of presenting the material," Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told a RIA Novosti news conference.

Current Western media coverage of the events in the separatist republic is "a politically motivated version, to put it mildly," he said.

The United States, Georgia's key ally, has called Russia's strikes on Georgian territory "dangerous and disproportionate," and warned that they could harm relations with Washington in the long-term. Georgia said on Friday that 300 of its citizens had been killed, mainly civilians, by Russian forces.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier called Russia's actions "absolutely justified and legitimate from the legal standpoint," and accused Georgia of "full-scale genocide."

At the premier's meeting with South Ossetian refugees at a makeshift hospital camp in Russia's North Ossetia on Saturday, eyewitnesses described atrocities committed by Georgian troops, including an incident where a group of local young women were rounded up and burned alive, and killings of old people and children.

Karasin said on Saturday that the country may ask the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights to investigate war crimes committed by Georgia.

Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said on Sunday that Georgian forces had fully withdrawn from the separatist province.

However, a spokesman for the peacekeeping command told RIA Novosti: "This statement is a lie, just like [Georgian President Mikheil] Saakashvili's statement on the impossibility of using military force in conflict zones."

Russia has also denied bombing Georgian towns.

"The Georgian side has named some nearby populated areas and towns, saying they are being bombed by the Russian Air Force. I take full responsibility in saying that the Russian side did not bomb any populated area," Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy head of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, told a news briefing on Sunday.

http://en.rian.ru/ru...80810/115936076.html

August 12, 2008, 14:45
CNN blamed for using misleading war video
American broadcaster CNN has been accused of using the wrong pictures in their coverage of the conflict in South Ossetia. A Russian cameraman says footage of wrecked tanks and ruined buildings, which was purported to have been filmed in the town of Gori, in fact showed the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali.

Gori was said to be about to fall under the control of the Russian army but the cameraman says the video was actually shot in Tskhinvali, which had been flattened by Georgian shelling.

Aleksandr Zhukov, from the Russiya Al-Yaum channel, said: “When we arrived and news came that Gori was being shelled, I saw my footage. I said: that’s not Gori! That’s Tskhinvali. Having crawled through the length and breadth of Tskhinvali, I don’t need much to tell from which point this or that footage was recorded. I can swear in front of any tribunal. I can point at this location on the map of the town, because I and the cameraman of the Rossiya channel videotaped that.”

http://www.russiatod....com/news/news/28880


CNN use footage of Tskhinvali ruins to cover Georgian report
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVNblG9PJMk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVNblG9PJMk</a>

[Olga]

Russia says Georgian troops in S.Ossetia surrendering

August 11 2008

Georgian troops have been surrounded in South Ossetia and are giving themselves up, a senior Russian military official said on Monday.

"Russian troops are currently disarming the surrounded Georgian forces in South Ossetia," Col. Gen. Anatoly Nagovitsyn, deputy head of the General Staff, told a news conference.

Russian troops are currently forcing all Georgian troops out of Georgian-populated villages in the east and west of the breakaway region, he said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said earlier on Monday that the operation declared on Saturday to "force Georgia to accept peace" was almost complete.

Russia drove Georgian troops out of the devastated capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, on Sunday, two days after Tbilisi launched a major ground and air offensive to regain control of the pro-Russian region.

Shelling and bombing attacks continued on Monday morning. Russia, which has maintained peacekeepers in the region since conflicts in the early 1990s, said over 2,000 civilians have been killed by Georgian forces. Moscow has also highlighted a humanitarian catastrophe in the region.

Georgia says it has lost 150 people in the conflict, and that hundreds of Georgians are injured. Nagovitsyn said 18 Russian troops have been killed and 52 wounded.

He warned that in the Black Sea near Georgia's other breakaway region, Abkhazia, Russian forces will attack all Georgian ships and aircraft entering the security zone to deter a Georgian attack on Abkhazia.

Earlier reports said Russia had sent more than 9,000 troops and 350 armored vehicles into Abkhazia.

On Saturday Russia sent vessels to patrol the area near Abkhazia, where martial law has been declared. On Sunday, Russian defense officials said one Georgian missile boat was destroyed after it attacked Russian ships.

Nagoviotsyn also said two more Russian military aircraft have been downed in the conflict zone in the past 24 hours, bringing the Air Force's overall losses to four aircraft. He said Russia has gained full control over Georgian airspace, and is preventing all flights by Georgian combat aircraft.

"We have eliminated the possibility of an aerial threat from Georgia in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone," Nogovitsyn said.

He denied Georgian claims that Russian warplanes have targeted Georgian oil pipelines in bombing raids, in particular the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, which pumps crude from the Caspian to Europe.

"We did not bomb Georgia's oil pipelines. If we had done this, oil spills and possible oil fires could have led to a regional environmental disaster," Nogovitsyn said.

The general also denied reports that Russia had dropped bombs on Tbilisi's international airport or any other civilian targets, but admitted to an attack on a radar facility.

The United States and other Western nations have criticized Russia for what they have called a 'disproportionate' response to Georgia's attack on South Ossetia, and are urging both Russia and Georgia to stop armed hostilities.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who seeks NATO membership for the South Caucasus country, has pledged to bring the two pro-Russian separatists republics under central control. Most people in both republics have Russian passports.

http://en.rian.ru/ru...80811/115955654.html

[Olga]

Attacks damaged or destroyed 70% of buildings - Tskhinvali mayor

August 12 2008

Around 70% of buildings in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, have been damaged or destroyed since Georgia attacked its rebel republic early last Friday, the city's mayor said on Tuesday.

"Up to 70% of the municipal buildings have been damaged or completely destroyed," Robert Guliyev said. "The situation is almost the same in the private housing sector."

The mayor said around 15,000 civilians remained in the city, which had 30,000 residents before the attacks began.

Guliyev did not give the number of civilian deaths. According to Russia, around 1,600 civilians have died.

Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of Russia's General Staff, said earlier Tuesday that all nurseries, schools and the only hospital in the city were destroyed on the first day of the attack.

The Defense Ministry official said Russia had provided the necessary financial assistance to rebuild Tskhinvali. Field bakeries have been set up in the conflict zone, and food and water are being supplied, he said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered an end to the "peace enforcement" operation in Georgia earlier in the day, after five days of fighting that followed Georgia's military offensive to seize South Ossetia. However, he said Georgia must pull its troops back before a peace settlement can be reached.

http://en.rian.ru/wo...80812/115983262.html

[Olga]

Wrap: Russia calls end to military operation in Georgia

August 12 2008

Russia has announced the end of its "peace enforcement" operation in Georgia, but reserves the right to take further military action in the event of any Georgian attack on South Ossetia.

"I have made a decision to end the operation to force the Georgian authorities to peace," Medvedev said on Tuesday afternoon. The decision to end the military operation was taken after a meeting with the leader of breakaway South Ossetia, Edward Kokoity.

The announcement came after five days of fighting that began with an attack by Georgian forces on the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali on August 8. Russia has said that around 1,600 people died in the Georgian assault. Some 34,000 people also fled fighting into Russia. Most residents of South Ossetia have Russian citizenship.

During the subsequent Russian military operation to force Georgian troops out of the de facto independent republic and to reinforce its peacekeepers in the region, Moscow sent some 10,000 servicemen and several hundred armored vehicles into South Ossetia. Russian jets also carried out strikes against Georgian military infrastructure. Western and Georgian media reported that Russia had bombed civilian targets in Georgia, including in the city of Gori, but Moscow denied the allegations.

"The operation has achieved its goal - security for the peacekeepers and civilians has been restored. The aggressor was punished, suffering huge losses," Medvedev said.

However, he said the Russian military has orders to destroy any "centers of resistance" or other "attempts at aggression" from Georgia.

Georgian Prime Minister Vladimir Gurgenidze said Georgia wanted proof that Russia had concluded its military operation in South Ossetia.

SARKOZY IN MOSCOW

Medvedev's statement coincided with peace mission trips to Moscow by the French and Finnish foreign ministers, as well as French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy welcomed Russia's decision to halt its military operation in Georgia, and called on both countries' troops to return to their pre-conflict positions.

Speaking to Medvedev in the Kremlin, Sarkozy, who holds the European Union rotating presidency, said the decision was "good news," and urged for a timetable to be drawn up for each side to return to their positions before the conflict.

He also said, in stark contrast to earlier U.S. and U.K. statements unreservedly condemning Russia's actions in Georgia, that "It is understandable that Russia wants to protect its compatriots' and Russian speakers' interests abroad, and it is also understandable that the international community wants to protect Georgia's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity."

"Russia can use its might to ensure peace. This is the reason why I am in Moscow," the president added.

NO TALKS WITH SAAKASHVILI

Moscow has ruled out future talks with Saakashvili.

"The best thing would be for him to resign," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday. However, he said Moscow has "no plans to force anyone from power."

Lavrov also questioned elements of European-backed proposals for a Georgian-Russian ceasefire deal. "Russia supports the OSCE and EU line that a ceasefire agreement is absolutely essential, but we have questions over several points," he said.

Russia's main objection to the proposals are a stipulation that the peacekeeping format in South Ossetia revert to the setup before August 7.

"We can hardly agree to this, as it implies that Georgian so-called peacekeepers should be in South Ossetia... Georgian peacekeepers cannot be there. They committed crimes, shooting their own [Russian] colleagues, with whom they were serving," said Lavrov.

Russia reported on Tuesday afternoon that Georgian forces were continuing to attack their positions. "Separate Georgian military groups are sporadically attacking the positions of Russian peacekeepers," the spokesperson said. The Russian Defense Ministry also dismissed Georgian claims that Russia was continuing to bomb villages near the South Ossetian border.

BEGINNINGS OF THE WAR

South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway Georgian region, both broke away from Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Both republics fought vicious wars with Tbilisi that eventually ended in the retreat of Georgian troops and the regions gaining de facto independence. Georgia alleged, although the claims were unproven, that the rebels had been armed with Russian-supplied military equipment. When the Rose Revolution street protests swept the pro-Western Saakashvili to power in 2004, the new president immediately vowed to bring the regions back under central government control. Russian had earlier granted citizenship to residents of both republics.

Saakashvili, hailed by the West as an intellectual, U.S. educated lawyer leading the "youngest government in the world," also pledged to bring Georgia into NATO. For this to happen, the country's 'frozen' conflicts would have to be resolved. Indeed, South Ossetia and Abkhazia were the reason why Georgia was refused a NATO Membership Action Plan in April, objections from Germany and France that doing so would unnecessarily antagonize Russia thwarting U.S. enthusiasm for welcoming Tbilisi into the military alliance.

Saakashvili later admitted that he had chosen the date for the attack of South Ossetia in the certainty that the world's attention would be fixed on the Olympic Games.

However, instead of a quick Georgian victory, Russia launched a major counter operation. Western condemnation of Russia's actions was immediate. U.S. President George Bush called Russia's response to Georgia's attack on Tskhinvali "disproportionate," and also said Russia "has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people." (VIDEO)

"Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st Century," he added.

U.S. military transport planes subsequently brought some 2,000 Georgian troops back home from Iraq, where they had made up the third largest contingent after the U.S. and the U.K.

AFTERMATH

Russia sent a second humanitarian aid convoy to Tskhinvali on Tuesday. Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu also arrived in the devastated capital of South Ossetia to coordinate the distribution of aid. Moscow has spoken of a growing humanitarian crisis in the region.

Saakashvili announced to a crowd in Tbilisi on Tuesday afternoon that Georgia would leave the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and urged Ukraine to follow suit.

"We have decided that Georgia will leave the CIS... We urge Ukraine and other countries to also leave the Commonwealth of Independent States, which is dominated by Russia," he said in front of parliament.

The CIS is an alliance of former Soviet republics.

The fighting in South Ossetia has seen relations between Russia and the West fall to yet another post-Cold war low.

On Monday, Russia Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticized the U.S. stance on the conflict, saying, "The very scale of this cynicism is astonishing - the attempt to turn white into black, black into white and to adeptly portray victims of aggression as aggressors and place the responsibility for the consequences of the aggression on the victims."

"The Cold War has long ended but this mentality has remained firmly in the minds of several U.S. diplomats," Putin said.

Russia has also criticized Western media coverage of the armed conflict, calling it "biased."

http://en.rian.ru/ru...80812/115986501.html

[Olga]

Articles: Georgia starts war against S.Ossetia  http://en.rian.ru/trend/osset/


Over 30,000 people have become refugees because of the Georgian aggression
http://english.pravd.../report/ossetia-3729


The first day of the war. Georgia attacks South Ossetia. The Russian journalists report from Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia
Georgian army kills Russian peacemakers and civilians, Georgian army doesn't let the medical services take out the wounded people from the zone of operations, more over Georgian army kills wounded people. Russia sends the Divisions of the 58-th Russian army as additional help to defend Ossetians from the Georgian army's attacks.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUdz36VSVCQ" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUdz36VSVCQ</a>

American citizen telling the truth about Georgian invade in South Osetia

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCwTo9AdT2c" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCwTo9AdT2c</a>

[Olga]

Civilians perish as Georgian troops torch church
August 12, 2008

The Regnum news agency is reporting that Georgian troops burned down a 10th century Orthodox church while terrified civilians perished inside. The agency quotes eyewitness accounts of the atrocity after all-out fighting in Khetagurovo, a small village near the republic’s capital Tskhinvali.

Almost all of those fighting to defend the village were killed, but the report says the fate of others, mostly women and the elderly, turned out to be even more horrible.

Eyewitnesses report that Georgian tanks literally ran people down and that soldiers took almost all the women to another location. Their fate is still unknown.

Meanwhile, those who didn’t manage to escape found their shelter in a 10th century Orthodox church. Civilians hoped that Georgians of the same faith wouldn’t dare storm the building, one of the oldest of its kind in the country.

But Regnum reports that the Georgian troops set the church on fire and left those inside to perish.

It is the latest in a series of reports of the Georgian military attacking and killing civilians.

http://www.russiatod....com/news/news/28872

[Olga]

August 12, 2008

The United States has been providing military and technical support to independent Georgia for almost 15 years. During this period, the overall amount of annual aid from Washington has increased by more than several hundred times, and reached its peak in the financial year till 2006.

It has meant that Georgia’s army was well prepared for an attack on South Ossetia. RT offers a brief history of the preparation by the Georgian armed forces for the war.

    * 1994: Georgia received $63,000 under the programme of the International Military Education and Training (IMET).
    * 1995: Georgia received $85,000 under IMET.
    * 1996: Georgia received $302,000 under IMET. It purchased American military equipment for $66.000. Total: $368,000.
    * 1997: Georgia received $312,000 under IMET. It purchased American military equipment for $66,000. It received $700,000 under the programme of the Foreign Military Financing (FMF). Total: $1,068,000.
    * 1998: Georgia received $416,000 under IMET. It received $5,350,000 under EMF. Total: $5,766,000.
    * 1999: Georgia received $394,000 under IMET. It received $7,950,000 under FMF. It purchased American arms for $19,000. It received $9,227,040 under the programme of Additional Defense Expenses (ADE). Total: $17,590,040.
    * 2000: Georgia received $409,000 under IMET. It received $3,000,000 under FMF. It purchased American arms for $3,949,000. It received $575,000 under ADE. Total: $7,933,000.
    * 2001: Georgia received $481,000 under IMET. It received $4,490,000 under FMF. It purchased American arms for $5,171,000. It received $575,000 under ADE. Total: $10,717,000.
    * 2002: Georgia received $889,000 under IMET. It received $55,500,000 under FMF. It purchased American arms for $3,647,000. Total: $60,036,000.
    * 29th April 2002: Pentagon announced the beginning of the Programme of Preparation and Equipment for Georgia (PPEG). The programme was implemented upon Georgia’s request for assistance in order to enhance its abilities to fight against terrorism, in the Pankisi Gorge in particular.  The program was planned for 18-20 months. It included special seminars and training as well as supplies of light armaments and other military equipment for the Georgian army. Total budget of the programme was $64,000,000. Also, at least 150 American military experts were sent to Georgia. The Programme of Border Security and Law enforcement, with a budget of $3,200,000, was implemented at the same time.
    * 2003: Georgia received $1,184,000 under IMET. It received $6,900,000 under FMF. It purchased American arms for $9,825,000. It received $4,525,054 under ADE. Total: $22,434,054.
    * 2004: Georgia received $1,040,000 under IMET. It received $12,000,000 under FMF. It purchased American arms for $7,405,000. It received $2,786,257 under ADE. Total: $23,231,257.
    * April 2004: Programme of Preparation and Equipment for Georgia was formally completed. The programme of operation for stabilisation and reinforcement began. It was formally intended for the preparation of Georgian armed forces to be sent to Iraq. The first stage of the program was planned for 18-20 months with a budget of approximately $60,000,000.
    * 2005: Georgia received $1,413,000 under IMET. It received $11,904,000 under FMF. It purchased American arms for $32,044,000. Total: $45,361,000.
    * 2006: Georgia received $1,275,000 under IMET. It received $11,880,000 under FMF. It purchased American for $106,714,000. Total: $119,869,000.
    * 2007: Georgia received $1,235,000 under IMET. It received $10,000,000 under FMF. It purchased American arms for $10,876,000. Total: $22,102,000.
    * September 2007: Beginning of the second stage of the programme of operation for stabilisation and reinforcement.
    * 2008: $800,000 was allocated to Georgia under IMET. $10,000,000 was allocated under FMF. $9,319,000 was allocated for purchase of American arms. Total: $20,119,000.
http://www.russiatod....com/news/news/28892

[Olga]

Genocide is a deliberate destruction, completely or partially, of an ethnic, religious, or national group, say the reference-books. And according to experts, this is what Georgia has been doing with Ossetians over the centuries.
http://www.russiatod.../features/news/28792

http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=-Xwty35ozJk

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August 12, 2008, 2:04
Ossetian refugees risk lives to bring and bury their dead
Over 30,000 refugees have crossed the border between South Ossetia and Russia in the last four days, seeking safety, but not all of them made it alive. Some South Ossetians risked their lives to bring the bodies of their loved ones to North Ossetia because they were unable to bury them back home.

“They were shooting at us from airplanes, they were throwing bombs at us. Bullets were reaching us all the way down to the basement. When we wouldn't leave our basement, they started flooding us. They burnt roofs of our homes. Even fascists didn't do that. Shevarnadze attacked us, Gamsakhurdia attacked us, now Saakashvili attacks us... they can't live there and neither can we, why do they want that land back if no one can live there? Saakashvili says he doesn't want the people - he wants the land,” said a refugee from Tskhinvali.
http://www.russiatod.../features/news/28848