War Begins: Russia Bombs Georgia As Georgia Attacks Russian-Backed Province Update: Georgia Downs 2 Russian Bombers, 40 Russians Dead/Wounded - *Video Added*
In this picture made off APTN video footage, Georgian multiple rocket launchers are seen at a position south of Tskhinvali, Friday morning, Aug. 8, 2008.
UPDATE: AP NewsAlert - TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Georgian official says Georgian forces have shot down 2 Russian bombers.
UPDATE: AP News Alert - TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Russian military says 10 Russian peacekeepers killed and 30 wounded in South Ossetia.
First Article:
Tiblisi: Government troops launched a major military offensive Friday to regain control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia and the president accused Russia, which has close ties to the separatists, of bombing Georgian territory.
Russian Premier Vladimir Putin vowed the offensive will draw retaliation.
Separatist officials in South Ossetia said 15 civilians had been killed in fighting overnight after Georgia attacked with aircraft, armor and heavy artillery. Georgian troops fired missiles at the regional capital, Tskhinvali, an official said, and many buildings were on fire.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakasvhili said in a televised statement that Russian aircraft bombed several Georgian villages and other civilian facilities. He said there were injuries and damage to the buildings.
“A full-scale aggression has been launched against Georgia,” he said in a televised statement.
He urged Russia to immediately stop bombing the Georgian territory. “Georgia will not yield its territory or renounce its freedom,” he said.
But Putin, speaking in televised remarks Friday during his trip to the opening of the Beijing Olympics, blamed Georgia for launching the effort to take control over South Ossetia and warned it will cause an unspecified retaliatory action.
South Ossetia has close ties with Russia, and the escalation of fighting there has drawn fears that Russia may join fighting.
Saakashvili said government troops have seized the outskirts of Tskhinvali and are fighting for control of the center. Georgian forces also have seized several villages around the capital.
In his televised address, Saakashvili also announced a full military mobilization with reservists being called into action.
The fighting in South Ossetia raised fears of an all-out war that could draw in Russia, which has peacekeepers in the region.
Saakashvili long has pledged to restore Tbilisi’s rule over South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia. Both regions have run their own affairs without international recognition since splitting from Georgia in the early 1990s and built up ties with Moscow.
Most residents of both provinces have Russian passports. An open war could prompt Russian to send in more forces under the claim of protecting its citizens.
Gen. Mamuka Kurashvili, a Georgian military officer in charge of operations in the region, said on Rustavi 2 television that the Georgian forces moved to “establish constitutional order in the region.”
The leader of Russia’s province of North Ossetia rushed to Tskhinvali. “We are jointly organizing defense here,” Teimuraz Mamsurov said in the city, according to the Interfax news agency.
Mamsurov said hundreds of volunteers from North Ossetia were streaming across the border into South Ossetia, Interfax said. It also quoted the separatist leader of Abkhazia as saying that some 1,000 volunteers from his region were heading to South Ossetia.
Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili said Georgian officials were doing everything they could to avoid casualties and the destruction of property.
But Boris Chochiyev, a minister in the South Ossetian government, said that Georgian troops shelled the center of Tskhinvali with truck-launched missiles.
Chochiyev asked the Russian government to defend South Ossetians, most of whom hold Russian passports, from what he called aggression.
The Russian government blamed Georgia for the fighting, and called on Tbilisi to commit itself to peaceful resolution of the conflict.
“The Georgian leadership should come to their senses and return to civilized ways of resolving difficult issues,” Russian Foreign Ministry Boris Malakhov said Friday.
Yakobashvili said Friday that Georgia was ready to negotiate, but claimed the South Ossetian officials were dragging their feet in starting talks.
At the request of Russia, the United Nations Security Council held an emergency session in New York but failed to reach consensus early Friday on a Russian-drafted statement.
The council concluded it was at a stalemate after the United States, Britain and some other members backed the Georgians in rejecting a phrase in the three-sentence draft statement that would have required both sides “to renounce the use of force,” council diplomats said.
“We think that this is a very serious error of judgement and political blunder,” Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkins said of the council members’ disagreement. “I hope that the Georgian side will reconsider its reckless actions in the area of the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict.”
The Georgian attack came just hours after Saakashvili announced a unilateral cease-fire in a television broadcast late Thursday in which he also urged South Ossetian separatist leaders to enter talks on resolving the conflict.
Georgian officials later blamed South Ossetian separatists for thwarting the cease-fire by shelling Georgian villages in the area.
The fighting was the worst outburst of hostilities in the region since it won a de-facto independence in a war that ended in 1992.
Russia has soldiers in South Ossetia as peacekeeping forces, but Georgia alleges they back the separatists. Russia also was criticized by the West as provoking tensions by sending warplanes over South Ossetia last month.
Most of South Ossetia, which is roughly 1.5 times the size of Luxembourg, has been under the control of an internationally unrecognized separatist government since 1992. Georgian forces hold several swaths of it.
Relations between Georgia and Russia worsened notably this year as Georgia pushed to join NATO and Russia dispatched additional peacekeeper forces to Abkhazia.
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All Russia is trying to do is isolate Georgia, chip off some of its provinces, and halt its integration with the West because it used to “theirs.” Personally, if I were G.W., I would make a polite but very vocal show of support for Georgia (who are our last stalwart allies in Iraq, btw) and put a carrier group in the Mediterranean, right next to the Black Sea.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:26 ameverything is ok there, Georgians control about 70% of the total territory, only 2 towns are left to be taken over, but to avoid the street fights Georgians are advancing little at a time, the capital of so-called South Ossetia is almost in our hands, with few isolated spots of resistance left…there are reports of russian jets flying over and bombing the Georgians forces, who in turn claim they shot down 2 of the jets …out of all western powers, the US is only true ally… but we do need help, technical and material on top of diplomatic, we need to kick the russians out of Georgia once and for all … the carrier group would be nice idea, as well as fly-owers by american F-15s and F-16 from the US Air Force base at Incirlik Turkey , and a battery of “Patriots” as well…
August 8th, 2008 at 2:34 amwell this is a complicated situation, Georgia is a strategic country for Russia, while Georgia has made a cleansing of the russian population on her soil ; though both countries need to find an agreement, cause, geopolitically,they can’t live without each others.
wasn’t Stalin born in Georgia ?
August 8th, 2008 at 3:16 amAnother “reconquista” operation by Komrade Vlad. All in the name of reviving Russian imperalism. Communism died a slow death. Russian impearialism just went underground…waiting for a new Czar like Putin to revive it.
We should be doing all that we can to support our Georgian ally.
August 8th, 2008 at 4:09 amWow this is breaking too. Georgia is reporting that they just shot down 2 russian jets.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,399962,00.html
August 8th, 2008 at 4:19 amPlease keep in mind that it was Georgia that has violated the peacekeeping declarations, which directly stated that usage of certain means of war and certain kinds of arms is prohibited in the area of conflict.
Russian peacekeepers, the positions of which were under direct Georgian missile fire earlier this day, have been dislocated in the region according to international CIS mandate. The Georgian military today launched a missile attack against not only resistance members, but mere civilians. The Tskhinvali hospital as well as the suburbs where peaceful citizens reside were under direct air and artillery missile fire today.
It was Georgia that broke all the arrangements on mantaining peace in the region.
The decision of Pres. Medvedev to dispatch Russian military and additional peacekeeping forces into the region is absolutely fair. As for me, far more fair than the violent attacks on Iraq in Kosovo.
No terrorists or extremists reside in South Ossetia. Ossetian people are under the constant threat of georgian genocide. Those European and American “partners” of Georgia should keep this in mind.
Besides, Russia protects its citizens that legally dwell in South Ossetia. Any country in our place would be obliged to enact such decisions.
In the end of all, South Ossetia’s case is similar to Kosovo’s. I hope you remember it.
August 8th, 2008 at 4:21 amDear gentelmen,
August 8th, 2008 at 4:31 amthe translations of Putin’s words into English are all distorted to manipulate the nation.
Let there be Peace on Earth!! God save us all!
Debka’s got a good article on the matter. As noted before, complicated. But if Debka is correct, this is a war over oil. Why is the media overlooking this fact. They have preoccupied with Iraq and that it was all for oil. Why not the same complaint.
Debka’s article: http://debka.com/article.php?aid=1358
August 8th, 2008 at 5:49 amThe Chinese are going to be pissed that the Russians stole their headline thunder for the Olympic opening
August 8th, 2008 at 6:02 amOkay. Conspiracy theory time. Could this be a decoy to attract attention away from the imminent attack on Iran? Just wondering.
Oh, and the stealing thunder from the Olympics? Just a serendipitous bonus, IMHO.
August 8th, 2008 at 6:10 amum has anyone played the video game Ghost recon2? It is based off the literature of Tom Clancy. This breaking news is literally the same exact plot as his game - creepy. Almost same time-frame as in the game too.
August 8th, 2008 at 6:34 amYeah, I’ve played GhostRecon (not sure about the 2), and you’re right: it is a little weird.
As usual the bullying Russians seek to dominate the nations in “their” sphere of influence (as if God gave them that right). News flash to Putin: might isn’t always right.
August 8th, 2008 at 6:46 am[mechanical arms swinging] Danger Will Robinson![/mechanical arms swinging]
August 8th, 2008 at 7:04 amLet the Lord of Chaos rule
August 8th, 2008 at 7:33 amWhenever I see firefights like that I think about SOD/MOD death metal, am I alone on that one?
Georgian genocide, I’m sorry Dmitri but I’m not convinced comrade. They have been under the Russian heel for generations. I hope you guys settle your beef and just let them be.
August 8th, 2008 at 7:54 amStill waiting for the left to denounce this. Never gonna happen.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:05 amI was in Georgia last summer when the Russians “mistakenly” dropped a bomb in Georgia. The translators told me that every summer the Russians try and provoke a war with the Georgians so they can invade and take control over Georgia again.
@Dmitri “No terrorists or extremists reside in South Ossetia.”
Really, then why are Russian “peacekeepers” stationed there? Maybe because it borders Chechnya and this is where the Chechyn terrorists regroup? Russia can’t solve the Chechnya problem so why not just try and take over Georgia right?
Russia should focus on what it has now, stop trying to relive the old days of the Soviet Union
August 8th, 2008 at 8:19 amfor any Dollard readers who aren’t already aware, the Republic of Georgia is one of the few countries who have consistently sent troops to and supported the United States in Iraq. they have a tiny ass military, are constantly under the threat and now on the brink of war with Russia and still send troops to fight in Iraq
August 8th, 2008 at 8:28 amThe Russian bully is going to get a black eye
Georgian troops will kick the Ruskie ass all the way back to Ruusia.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:30 amWWSD? What would Stalin do?
Monkey3531
much respect
by the way, breaking news, we took over Tskhinvali, the “capital” os the so-called south ossetia (its samachablo in georgian land of Machabeli noble family, historically) the only part left is to take a last stronghold , a village/town of Dzhava which is completly surrounded right now …. i’ve been watching russian media all day and they were saying that a convoy of 150 tanks APCs and self propelled howizers are entering the Tskhinvali, and started to fire upon the georgian soldiers who were apparently running away from the mighty russian military.. i got a cousin whos there right now and he says that 1-2 more days and the mop-up operations will begin, its just about over, and no mighty russians in sight, it was all a propoganda/psyops , they were fighting a virtual war, LOL
thanks to all “dollardians” who took interest and showed support for georgia, its pleasant to hear that a small country of mine has got some fans
August 8th, 2008 at 10:55 amGO BULLDOGS!
wait, wrong Georgia
August 8th, 2008 at 11:07 amHere’s wishing your country success, Giorgi.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:53 amGiorgi, if anything major happens, please let us know. The MSM is having a collective orgasm over the Olympics and John Edward’s silky mane. Hope Georgia prevails in this.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:10 pmNever trust that cold hearted Viper Putin,X-KGB, HAH a wolf will always be a wolf. He has been looking to do something like this for a long time, the US trying to sponsor Georgia in NATO was like waving a red flag to Vlad the impaler. He was looking for an excuse and he finally found one, been planning this for a long time.
I hope the Georgians kick their ass.
Billy
August 9th, 2008 at 12:38 am[…] Russian Bombers, 40 Russians Dead/Wounded - *Video Added* August 9, 2008 — budsimmons https://pat-dollard.com/2008/08/war-breaking-russia-bombs-georgia-as-georgia-attacks-russian-backed-pr… Posted in Putin, Russia, Russian missiles, Russian spies, russian secret […]
August 9th, 2008 at 10:56 am