Russia-Georgia War
Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war in August 2008 over South Ossetia, the first time Russia had used its army against a neighbouring state since the Soviet collapse. South Ossetia and Abkhazia had broken from Georgian control in wars in the early 1990s and existed since as unrecognised entities with Russian peacekeepers, Russian passports and Russian money. Tension rose sharply after the NATO summit at Bucharest in April 2008 declared that Georgia and Ukraine would become members without offering a timetable — enough to alarm Moscow and not enough to protect Tbilisi. Shelling across the ceasefire line escalated through the summer. On the night of 7 August, President Mikheil Saakashvili ordered an assault on the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali, using artillery in a built-up area. Russian forces, which an EU inquiry later found had been moving into position beforehand, entered through the Roki tunnel in strength within hours, destroyed the Georgian force, opened a second front from Abkhazia, bombed targets across the country and occupied Gori. The EU inquiry under Heidi Tagliavini concluded in 2009 that Georgia had started the war with an unjustified attack, and that the Russian response had gone far beyond proportionate defence. Several hundred people were killed and tens of thousands of ethnic Georgians displaced from South Ossetia. Nicolas Sarkozy brokered a ceasefire. Russia recognised both territories as independent states and has kept troops there. Western capitals returned to business within a year, which is the part later read as the more consequential outcome. Saakashvili lost power in 2012 and later left the country. NATO membership for Georgia has not advanced since.
- Year: 2008 CE
- Category: Military
