GEORGIA-RUSSIA/WAR ANNIVERSARY Georgia and its breakaway republic of South Ossetia mark anniversary of 2008 war

Record ID: 144707

  • Title: GEORGIA-RUSSIA/WAR ANNIVERSARY Georgia and its breakaway republic of South Ossetia mark anniversary of 2008 war
  • Date: 8th August 2015
  • Summary: NEAR GEORGIA-SOUTH OSSETIA DE FACTO BORDER (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (FILE - AUGUST 8, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GEORGIAN ROCKET-LAUNCHERS FIRING AT SOUTH OSSETIA EXPLOSIONS ON GROUND GEORGIA HELICOPTERS FLYING TOWARDS TSKHINVALI TSKHINVALI, SOUTH OSSETIA, GEORGIA (ORIGINALLY 4:3)(FILE - AUGUST 2008) (REUTERS) SMOKE RISING ABOVE TSKHINVALI VARIOUS OF CIVILIANS IN SHELTER SMOKE RIS
  • Embargoed: 23rd August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Georgia
  • Country: Georgia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA71AO7OADA66MLM9IF9EHJXVK9
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Georgia and South Ossetia mark the seventh anniversary of August 2008 war in which Russia crashed Georgia in a 5-day offensive preventing Tbilisi from restoring control over its two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
    Shortly after Moscow recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.
    The Kremlin has said it had launched its offensive in 2008 to stop a Georgian bid to seize back two pro-Russian Georgian territories that sought to break with Tbilisi.
    On Saturday (August 8) the Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili visited a cemetery where Georgian soldiers perished in 2008 war were buried.
    "Today we are thinking about the historic injustice that have lasted for more than seven years. History has seen unfair political actions, history has seen barbed wires and walls which tried to divide a nation, tried to divide countries, but I swear that this will not last and that Georgia and Georgia's independence and sovereignty will prevail, " said Margvelashvili after laying the wreath at the monument to the Georgian soldiers perished in a five-day war.
    228 Georgian civilians, 170 servicemen and 14 police died in 2008 war with Russia which caused the worst rift with the West since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
    In Tskhinvali, the capital of pro-Russian South Ossetia, hundreds attended commemoration ceremony for war victims. People were holding portraits of residents and soldiers killed in the fighting and candles.
    "When Russian soldiers came to Tskhinvali, entered the Republic of South Ossetia, our people said "The liberation has come, the force has come which will help our republic now and will help all of us in the future," said the republic's de facto leader Leonid Tibilov, addressing the gathering.
    South Ossetia's fate since Russia took it over in 2008 is a cautionary tale. Its people saw Russia as a savior after the war but the region is poor, roads are bad and unemployment is widespread.
    It is also almost entirely dependent on Russia for financial, political and military support and many of its people are frustrated with life under Russia's wing.
    In March 2015 Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with Georgia's rebel South Ossetia region that almost completely integrated it with Russia, alarming Georgia and the West a year after Moscow has annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
    Tbilisi described the "alliance and integration" treaty as a "move aimed at annexation" and the United States and the European Union have said they would not recognize the agreement, which the EU described as a threat to regional security and stability.
    Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine signed political and trade agreements with the European Union last year with a view of seeking EU membership.
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