2008 South Ossetia war (Russia vs Georgia) about war in land & in web.

[David]

AP


TBILISI, Georgia - Russia ordered a halt to the war in Georgia on Tuesday, after five days of air and land attacks that sent Georgia's army into headlong retreat and left towns, military bases and homes in the U.S. ally smoldering. Georgia insisted that Russian forces were still bombing and shelling.

Despite the televised order by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russia launched an offensive Tuesday in the Kodori Gorge, the only part of the breakaway region of Abkhazia still under Georgian control, sending in tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery.

And hours before the order, Russian jets bombed the crossroads city of Gori, near the separatist region of South Ossetia. Gori's post office and university were burning Tuesday, but the city was all but deserted after most remaining residents and Georgian soldiers fled Monday ahead of a feared Russian onslaught.

In Moscow, Medvedev said Georgia had been punished enough for its attack on South Ossetia. Georgia launched an offensive late Thursday to regain control over the separatist province, which has close ties to Russia.

"The aggressor has been punished and suffered very significant losses. Its military has been disorganized," Medvedev said.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, speaking before a crowd of thousands at a Tbilisi square, said the invasion was not because Russia wanted control of the breakaway regions.

"They just don't want freedom and that's why they want to stamp on Georgia and destroy it," he said, as red and white Georgian fluttered.

Tens of thousands of terrified residents have fled the fighting — South Ossetians north to Russia, and Georgians west toward the capital of Tbilisi and the country's Black Sea coast.

Both sides have traded accusations of genocide.

Russia has accused Georgia of killing more than 2,000 people, mostly civilians, in the separatist province of South Ossetia. The claim couldn't be independently confirmed, but witnesses who fled the area over the weekend said hundreds had died.

Many Georgians also have been killed in the fighting and on Tuesday, the Georgian security council said it filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice for alleged ethnic cleansing. The overall death toll was expected to rise because large areas of Georgia were still too dangerous for journalists to enter and see the true scope of the damage.

"It feels like an annexed country," said Lasha Margiana, the local administrator in one of the villages in the Kodori Gorge, where fleeing Georgians said the entire population had abandoned their homes.

Medvedev assailed the West for supporting Georgia in the conflict: "International law doesn't envision double standards."

In Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian provincial capital now under Russian control, the body of a Georgian soldier lay in the street along with debris. A poster hanging nearby showed Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the slogan "Say yes to peace and stability" as South Ossetian separatist fighters launched rockets at a Georgian plane soaring overhead. Broken glass and other debris littered the ground.

"If there are any emerging hotbeds of resistance or any aggressive actions, you should take steps to destroy them," Medvedev ordered his defense minister at a televised Kremlin meeting.

Russia's foreign minister called for Saakashvili to resign. Medvedev said Georgia must pull its troops from the two Russian-backed breakaway provinces and allow them to decide whether they want to remain part of Russia.

"Ossetians and Abkhaz must respond to that question taking their history into account, including what happened in the past few days," Medvedev said grimly.

Thousands of Georgians poured out their support for their president at a rally in Tbilisi, crowding a main square and nearby streets as far as the eye could see and holding aloft fluttering red-and-white Georgian flags.

Georgia, which is pushing for NATO membership, borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia and was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without international recognition since fighting to split from Georgia in the early 1990s.

Both separatist provinces are backed by Russia, which appears open to absorbing them.

Medvedev said Tuesday that Russian peacekeepers will stay in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia; Saakashvili said his government will officially designate Russian peacekeepers in those breakaway provinces as occupying forces.

The Russian onslaught angered the West and drew tough words from President Bush, but some Georgians are disappointed that the U.S. did not intervene to protect its tiny ally.

"I'd like to think the words really do matter," U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said Tuesday in Tbilisi.

Bryza declined to say if the U.S. would provide military support in the event that Russia expands its operations: "I hope we'll never come to the question of what we do if Russia refuses to observe international law."

Georgia sits on a strategic oil pipeline carrying Caspian crude to Western markets bypassing Russia, has long been a source of contention between the West and a resurgent Russia, the dominant energy supplier to Europe. The British oil company BP shut down one of three Georgian pipelines as a precaution, although the company said it had no evidence the pipelines had suffered damage.

In villages around the South Ossetian provincial capital, separatist fighters reportedly were setting fire to Georgian houses and searching for hidden Georgian fighters.

An AP photographer in the village of Ruisi near South Ossetia saw fresh damage from a Russian air raid that locals said came just 30 minutes before Medvedev's televised statement.

Residents said three villagers were killed and another five wounded when a Russian warplane raided the village. One slain victim, 77-year old Amiran Vardzelashvili, was struck by a fragment in the heart while was working in a field.

The Georgian government said another nearby village, Sakorinto, also was bombed after Medvedev announcing a halt to fighting, as was an ambulance in the Black Sea province of Adzharia.

The U.N. and NATO called meetings Tuesday to deal with the conflict, while Poland's president and the leaders of four former Soviet republics flew to Georgia for a meeting of solidarity with Saakashvili.

"The Russian state has once again shown its face, its true face," said Poland's Lech Kaczynski, who was being joined by counterparts from Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine and Latvia.

But he said it was "good news" that Medvedev ordered a halt to military action.

At the White House on Monday, Bush had demanded that Russia end a "dramatic and brutal escalation" of violence in Georgia, agree to an immediate cease-fire and accept international mediation.

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century," Bush said in a televised statement.

[DMZ-LT]

Glad I was up in the north Georgia mountains , tending my crop , when the Russians attacked Georgia -- I never heard a thing up here

[82Rigger]

Lt,

Yeah, they didn't burn Atlanta, and the Chattanooga rail service wasn't interrupted.

[DeadlyDaring]

I notice on TV that the Russian troops entered Georgia in Military Vehicles

Some are now leaving Georgia in civilian vehicles (Luxury)
The spoil of Georgia

[Waffa]

Originally Posted by DeadlyDaring

I notice on TV that the Russian troops entered Georgia in Military Vehicles

Some are now leaving Georgia in civilian vehicles (Luxury)
The spoil of Georgia

Well, it's totally understandable because a lot of Military Vehicles they have still probably like back in 90's when they did come to Tallinn whit tanks, 30% of tanks was broken before they arrived, it was like freaking circus. i think some of them used train to go back

So yes.. and these "damn georgians" shooted also some of their military vehicles so they had to "borrow" some local cars to get back to russia (fast), otherwise its long walk ( & the Budget Car rental was closed also probably, so they had no choice - russiaToday reports soon)


last year when russians lootered estonia streets they come whit broken fake nikes but was leaving in morning with Hugo Boss & Armani, thats how they do it

epl.ee/artikkel/383887
"On Friday, the mayor of Tallinn banned the sale of alcohol until 2 May. This caused lots of marauders to attack alcohol stores.
Looters were not only interested of smashing shop windows, but also in stealing goods from there. Protesters preferred to attack shops which sell famous and expensive products."
"On Thursday night, the Hugo Boss store was attacked – within minutes everything there was robbed. Friday night was the turn of Giorgio Armani shop, which was also looted and completely robbed within minutes"

- nothing new here

[82Rigger]

So, name one nation that has NOT left the field of battle with Spoils of War!

[DeadlyDaring]

I think maybe that is why Russia INVADED Georgia for the spoils and why not

Reasons

Georgia had better modern equiptment than Russia
(In a small scale)

Georgia had modern motor vehicles than Russia

Georgia had modern shops than Russia has

And the woman well lets just forget them at this moment

[Bill Farnie]

Originally Posted by DMZ-LT

Glad I was up in the north Georgia mountains , tending my crop , when the Russians attacked Georgia -- I never heard a thing up here

LMAOROTF Homie

[DeadlyDaring]

As Russia shows Georgia its iron hand, a look at the love-hate relationship it shares with Soviet Union’s former ‘republics’ since USSR’s dissolution in 1991:

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/348026.html

Rupinder Kaur
Posted online: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 2330 hrs


Armenia
Goodwill between Armenia and Russia has deep historical roots and is sustained by Russia’s recent role as Armenia’s protector. Russia is the ace up Armenia’s sleeve against feared aggression by Turkey, Armenia’s historical enemy, and as a deterrent to a renewal of the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed enclave of Nagorny Karabakh. Armenia plays eager host to a few Russian bases and a few thousand Russian troops, who patrol Armenia’s borders with Turkey and Iran. Virtually the entire Armenian energy sector is under Russian control. The most telling picture of the relationship was a trip by President Robert Kocharyan to the Kremlin, ahead of the February 2003 presidential election, to receive the “blessings” of President Putin.

Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan and Russia are caught in a bitter dispute over energy and labour migration, among other issues. Baku’s blunt refusal in December 2006 to import Russian gas following its energy giant Gazprom’s decision to hike gas prices for Azerbaijan marked a sharp acceleration in the worsening of relations between the two states.

Belarus
Belarus is closely allied with Moscow and forms a loose union state with Russia. The basis of the union was strengthened in 1997 with the signing of the “Treaty on the Union between Belarus and Russia”, at which time its name was changed to the Union of Russia and Belarus. Both member states seem to have lost their initial enthusiasm for the Union though, with first Russia and then Belarus restoring customs controls along their common border in 2001. Here too, Gazprom’s decision to hike gas prices has acted a spoiler.

Kazakhstan
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s first official state visit after taking office was to Kazakhstan. It was meant to boost ties between the two cash-rich states. In January-March 2008, trade between Russia and Kazakhstan amounted to $4.13 billion. However, trouble spots remain. Russia has been eager to maintain its influence over energy transit routes in the Caspian region.

Moldova
Moldova, like Georgia, is struggling with its own frozen conflict in the predominantly ethnic-Russian region of Transdniester. Although that separatist conflict is far less volatile than either Abkhazia or Georgia’s second breakaway region of South Ossetia, Russia is considered crucial to any resolution of the Transdniester conflict, and has used its leverage to reel in Moldova’s Western ambitions. Russia is also adamantly refusing to withdraw its troops from the Transdniester region.

Tajikistan
Traditionally Russia’s closest ally in Central Asia. Russia played a major role in ending Tajikistan’s five-year civil war. Russian soldiers were stationed in the country, guarded vital facilities during the war and helped the government maintain power. But the ties between the two have been affected due to Russia’s crackdown on illegal migrants from Tajikistan. Tajikistan’s proximity to Afghanistan has also raised its profile in the West and brought coalition troops to its bases — and this is not likely to go down too well with Russia.

Turkmenistan
Relations between Russia and Turkmenistan have always been complicated. Russia has signed agreements that will help it keep control over Turkmen gas exports. Russia is capable of influencing Turkmenistan if it decides to do so. The Turkmen economy depends heavily on gas exports, and its main pipeline route goes through Russian territory.

Ukraine
Russia strongly opposes any movement of NATO into what the Kremlin calls the former-Soviet space. Ukraine has sought to free itself of Russia’s influence, integrate into the West and join NATO. There have been disputes between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas prices in 2005 and 2008.

Uzbekistan
Russia is by far Uzbekistan’s closest trade partner, with trade turnover totaling roughly $4 billion in 2007. Moscow, in addition, has pledged to invest more than $2 billion in the Uzbek economy in the coming years. Uzbekistan, from Tashkent’s perspective, is in retrograde. Tashkent made a number of provocative steps against Moscow, from granting hydrocarbon contracts to Russian companies’ rivals to shunning Russian officials and making decisions without consultations with the Kremlin. Russia has attempted to offer Tashkent incentives to remain loyal to the Kremlin’s geopolitical agenda.