FILE: Georgia to mark 15th anniversary of Russia war over breakaway territories

Record ID: 1736797

  • Title: FILE: Georgia to mark 15th anniversary of Russia war over breakaway territories
  • Date: 7th August 2023
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF BODIES OF GEORGIAN SOLDIERS ON THE GROUND OUTSIDE
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2023 11:25
  • Keywords: GEORGIA RUSSIA WAR
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: Georgia
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA002252605082023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: ORIGINALLY IN 4:3 / EDITS CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
    Georgia on Tuesday (August 8) will mark the 15th anniversary of its five-day war with Russia, events which led to one-fifth of the South Caucasian country being occupied by pro-Russian forces to the present day.
    Georgia launched an assault on militants in South Ossetia on August 7, 2008, after days of skirmishes and months of tension between Moscow and Tbilisi over it and the rebel Black Sea region of Abkhazia, which both sought to break away in wars in the early 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
    Russia responded with a devastating counter-strike that routed the Georgian military. Russian forces pushed into Georgia proper, shaking confidence in oil and gas routes running west through the former Soviet republic.
    The five-day war killed at least 390 civilians and at its height displaced more than 100,000 people. Russia's blistering strike dashed Georgia's hopes of taking back control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and slammed the brakes on the country's NATO accession plans. The West condemned Russia's response as "disproportionate", but also faulted Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's assault.
    Ethnically distinct from Georgians, South Ossetians speak their own, Farsi-related language and say they have been separated from their fellow people in the neighbouring region of North Ossetia in Russia. At present it is thought some 98% of South Ossetia's population holds Russian passports, while Russian is the lingua franca in the Russian-controlled territory and the Russian rouble - their currency.
    Only five UN member states recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent countries - Russia, Syria, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Nauru. Two other nations - Tuvalu and Vanuatu - withdrew their recognition.
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