The 2008 war between Russia and Georgia has been a source of political controversy and conflicting claims. Although the Russian authorities have claimed that it was Georgia that started the war by launching an unprovoked attack, many reports and researchers (among them independent Russian experts) concluded that the conflict actually started earlier than claimed and that Russia was responsible for provoking the war.
On 8 August 2012, Russian president Vladimir Putin told a group of journalists that Russia came up with a plan for its war against Georgia already in 2006 and that it was training the separatist militia to fight against the Georgian government as part of that subversive effort. Putin further stated that "this is no secret".
Combatants' positions
Georgia Georgia first said that its military operation responded to Ossetian artillery attack on Georgian villages, and it intended to "restore constitutional order" in South Ossetia. Later, Georgia also said it aimed to resist a Russian invasion. President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili told journalists that around 23:00 on 7 August, Russian tanks had begun entering Georgia, causing the Georgians to respond with artillery weapons. Georgia made intercepted telephone calls public. The calls allegedly proved that entry of Georgian troops into Tskhinvali was preceded by movement of a Russian armoured regiment into South Ossetia nearly a day earlier.
Russia Russian authorities stated that Russia reacted to the numerous casualties among the South Ossetian civilian population caused by the Georgian attack. According to Russia, its aim was defence of Russian citizens and Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia. According to the Russian military, the Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia suffered casualties on August 8. Initially, Russia went as far as accusing Georgia of committing "genocide" against Ossetians. Defending Russia's decision to launch attack in uncontested Georgia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russian targeting of military infrastructure used for the Georgian attack was legally warranted.
It was claimed that Georgia codenamed its attack Operation "Clear Field". Russia also claimed that Georgia was planning to launch a two-day Operation "Rock" to retake Abkhazia. Russia codenamed its military action "Operation to Force Georgia to Peace". The term "enforcing to peace" for describing the war against Georgia allegedly has been coined by General Anatoliy Nogovitsyn.
Three years after the August War, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev stated that NATO would have admitted Post-Soviet states if Russia had not invaded Georgia. "If you...had faltered back in 2008, the geopolitical situation would be different now," Medvedev declared at a Vladikavkaz military base. In response, the Georgian authorities claimed that Medvedev had admitted that Russia started the war with Georgia. According to NEWSru, on 8 August 2012 Russian president Vladimir Putin said to journalists: "It's no secret; there was a plan, and we acted within its framework. It was developed by the General Staff in late 2006 - early 2007 and agreed upon with me. As part of the plan, we trained South Ossetian militias".
South Ossetia The Government of South Ossetia in Tskhinvali called for Russian help to prevent "genocide" when the Georgian bombardment began, saying that Tskhinvali was under "the most frightful fire".
Abkhazia When Abkhazia launched a military operation to gain the Kodori Gorge, President Sergei Bagapsh said that the events in South Ossetia "accelerated the implementation of military measures that had been planned earlier." Bagapsh also said: "Maybe in order to achieve our goals we will have to violate certain parts of the Moscow Agreement of May 14, 1994 on a ceasefire but we were not the first to violate them."
Arrival of the Russian army in South Ossetia Life Goes On (news article)
"Life Goes On" () is an article published in the 3 September 2008 issue of the Russian Ministry of Defence's official newspaper, Krasnaya Zvezda. It was also posted on the newspaper's web site. The article was based on the interview of an officer who had taken part in the military operation in South Ossetia in August 2008.
The article details the war experience of Russian captain of the 135th regiment named Denis Sidristy. Sidristy's unit was sent to Tskhinvali on 7 August, and he was there when the hostilities broke out. Sidristy said that he saw the Georgian military assault around midnight.
After the initial publication, it was picked up by blogs and internet news agencies, as it contradicted the official timeline of Russian incursion into South Ossetia. However, the article was later corrected and the date of the order to deploy to Tskhinvali was now given as the night of 7 August. Soon, the article was pulled from the newspaper's web site, having been commented upon by the mainstream media, including The New York Times. After a query by The New York Times about the article, Krasnaya Zvezda later published an article in which Captain Sidristy said the accurate date was August 8, not August 7.
Other reports by Russian media August 2008 Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported in June 2008 that when Chechen peacekeepers from Vostok Battalion began serving in South Ossetia in the autumn of 2007, they began arresting armed people with fake peacekeeping IDs. However, the Chechens were soon ordered to cease the arrest of the impostors and armed people with unknown affiliations were now freely roaming South Ossetia.
On 4 August 2008, Life.ru reported that after the end of the "Kavkaz 2008" exercises, the paratroopers from Pskov remained to occupy the key positions on the Roki and Mamison passes on the border. Several battalions of 58th Army were deployed close to the border and the South Ossetian sources told the newspaper that the deployment of troops began on the night of 2–3 August 2008. Life.ru reported, "The deployment of the Russian military hardware near the Roki Tunnel will allow as soon as possible to move troops to help the peacemaking forces."
On 6 August 2008, OsRadio reported that the volunteers were also arriving in Tskhinvali from Moscow. On 26 September 2008, Trud reported on the special battalion Vostok. One member of the battalion Khamzat said, "See what the "Red Star" wrote about us: Volunteers from neighboring republics arrive in South Ossetia. So we are volunteers?!" Khamzat added, "We are the regular subunit of 291-th Regiment of 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division of the North Caucasus Military District. And we only act on orders."
On 8 August 2008, Nezavisimaya Gazeta published an article by journalist who had spent previous three days in Chechnya. She saw the base of the Battalion "Vostok" in Gudermes somewhere in that time frame. Chechen soldiers were preparing to go to South Ossetia. It was claimed that they were going to support the peacekeeping mission. At 3:30 am they began preparing for departure with military official reminding them not to forget their passports and military IDs. However, the article does not mention that there was any war in South Ossetia.
On 10 August 2008, Moskovskij Komsomolets published a report by journalist who was in Tskhinvali on the night of 7 August. The report states, "There are 1700 peacekeepers here." According to Russian Defence Ministry official, the 1990s ceasefire agreement allowed Russia to station 500 peacekeepers in the conflict zone with 300 additional peacekeepers being reserved to be deployed during emergency.
On 10 August 2008, Izvestia published a report by journalist who had been in Tskhinvali. Journalist Yuri Snegirev wrote that he had witnessed Russian military servicemen, who were not peacekeepers, in Tskhinvali bomb shelter on 8 August 2008.
On 12 August 2008, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that in South Ossetia, several soldiers were wounded and one was killed, who were from Tatarstan. Five days before he was killed in South Ossetia, Evgeny Parfenov warned his parents not to call him because it would be hard to reach him by phone. Lieutenant Aleksandr Popov was participating in the exercises on the height near Tskhinvali when his group was requested by the intelligence to reinforce them. According to Popov's mother, Popov told her he could see how the Georgians fired on Tskhinvali one week before the war. The mother of Eldar Lotfullin, 23-year-old contract soldier, said that she was able to call her son for the last time at around 10 pm MSK on 7 August 2008. Eldar Lotfullin told journalist that the Georgian tanks fired on his barracks on 8 August. On 13 August, Izvestia reported that the unit (where Popov served) was participating in the exercises in the mountains of South Ossetia. Life.ru reported on Evgeny Parfenov that "22-year old contract soldier died on the first day of the bloody aggression in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone, when a barrage of fire hit the peaceful town." The peacemaker's mother said that his son called her on 7 August, but she did not know that he was in South Ossetia until his death.
On 12 August 2008, Moskovskij Komsomolets reported that one Russian regular army officer had said that he was preparing for the exercises in South Ossetia, but understood only at the last minute that he was going to war.
On 12 August 2008, APN reported that the residents of North Ossetia–Alania were able to see the movement of a large number of troops towards the Roki Tunnel since the evening of 6 August; however, they could not believe that Russia was involved in the war until the morning of 8 August.
In August 2008, Life.ru reported that 25-year old Aleksandr Shreider, who was serving in Rostov Oblast, called her mother on 5 August 2008 and told her that he was being sent to South Ossetia.
On 15 August 2008, Permskie Novosti reported that a Russian soldier had called home on 10 August and told his mother: "We are there [in South Ossetia] since 7 August. All of our 58th army."
On 15 August 2008, Vyatksky krai reported that the sister of soldier Vitaly (who was fighting in South Ossetia) said that her brother called on 6 August and he was going to move [to unknown location]; later, Vitaly told his sister on 7 August that "we are going to the mountains."
On 15 August 2008, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that 19-year-old Onar Aliev from the 19th Motor Rifle Division died in South Ossetia on the night of 8 August during the shelling of Tskhinvali. His mother said her son called for the last time on 4 August and told her that he would participate in the "true exercises" somewhere near Abkhazia.
On 15 August 2008, Trud made a report about junior sergeant Aleksandr Sviridov who was killed in South Ossetia. He called his mother on 2 August and said: "There won't be any holiday. There are intensified preparations; we frequently have parachute jumps. Apparently, we will be deployed to somewhere."
On 17 August 2008, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that Aleksandr Plotnikov, the soldier from 693rd Regiment, said that he knew in early August that there would be war when two companies of his regiment were sent to the mountains near Tskhinvali.
In August 2008, Life.ru reported that 29-year Aleksey Tarasov, who was killed in action in South Ossetia, was buried in his village. His military friend was quoted as saying that their unit was allegedly deployed to South Ossetia for the exercises, but suddenly the war broke out.
On 26 August 2008, Drug dlya druga reported that one mother was told by her son on 6 August that his company would be sent to South Ossetia on 9 August. At 3 am on 8 August her son was sent to Tskhinvali, where he was wounded.
On 27 August 2008, Vecherny Saransk reported that Yunir Bikkinyaev, contract soldier of 135th Regiment, stopped to answer the phone calls on 7 August and his parents were worried. He later acknowledged he did so not to frighten his family.