Battle of Tskhinvali

Battle of Tskhinvali
Part of 2008 South Ossetia war
Movements of opposing forces around Tskhinvali. Blue arrows show Georgian movements, red show Russian.
Date August 8 - August 10, 2008 Location Tskhinval, South Ossetia (Georgia) Result Russian-Ossetian victory, Georgian withdrawal
Belligerents
Republic of South Ossetia Russian Federation	Georgia
Commanders and leaders
Unknown Anatoly Khrulyov of the 58th Army (WIA) Marat Kulakhmetov of the former peacekeeping forces	Unknown
Strength
Unknown 1,700 troops formerly serving as peacekeepers and several thousand troops from Russia	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown 18 killed, 7 missing, 150 wounded, (Russian claim)	180 killed (Georgian claim)
Possibly about 2,000 Ossetian and 15 Georgian civilians killed (Russian claim)

The Battle of Tskhinvali was a battle for the city of Tskhinvali, the capital of the Georgia's breakway province of South Ossetia, that was being fought for over three days in August 2008, as the main engagement in the 2008 South Ossetia war. While details of the control of Tskhinvali are controversial, sources confirm that the capital of South Ossetia has been severely damaged in the fighting.

Troops before the Battle

Map of the Caucasus region, the forces disposition before the Battle of Tskhinvali:

• 
  Before the Tskhinvali battle

The Battle

Overview

The cities of Tskhinvali and Gori are located in the valley of the Greater Liakhvi River, within about 20 miles (32 km) from each other. The Georgian military was based at Gori, while Tskhinvali was the primary objective of the Georgian forces. It has been suggested that the ultimate goal of the Georgian forces was to control the Roki Tunnel, which is the sole major land route from Russia to South Ossetia.

Details

The Georgian Army entered the province of South Ossetia during the early hours of August 8, 2008 after a prolonged artillery onslaught on the city of Tskhinvali. By 04:45am Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temuri Yakobashvili announced that Tskhinvali was nearly surrounded by the Georgian forces. After hours of artillery bombardment Georgian mechanized forces moved into the city and were heading toward the city center, where they were met with fierce resistance from South Ossetian separatist rebels. The Georgian forces kept advancing despite strong opposition from the South Ossetian defenders. Georgian snipers were the most lethal on the battlefield killing anything that moved according to the civilians. The rebel presidential palace in the city was burning as intense hand-to-hand fighting broke out across the town. Ordinary apartment blocks were pounded as the remains of Georgian tanks struck by rocket-propelled grenades stood burning in the middle of the streets. The Georgian army needed only a few hours to take the city and by the end of the day it had.

The legacy of the night attack was initially assessed as about 1,600 civilians killed according to the South Ossetian sources, and about 100 civilians killed according to the Georgian sources.

However, despite the Georgian claim that Tskhinvali was captured and Georgia now controlled two-thirds of South Ossetia's territory reports were coming out of the city that fighting was still continuing and there were still some pockets of South Ossetian resistance. Television footage that came out of the city showed four Georgian tanks were on fire at the railroad station square with a few dead Georgian soldiers beside them on the ground.

At this time the Russian Ministry of Defence reported that the Georgians had killed at least 10 Russian soldiers and wounded 30 in the first shelling of the peacekeepers base at the city, later that number was revised to 13 killed and 70 wounded.

During the afternoon of August 8, Russian ground forces, with air support, crossed the international border into South Ossetia from the Russian republic of North Ossetia-Alania and reached Tskhinvali several hours later. Two armored tank battalions of the 58th Army were moving toward Tskhinvali. Both sides (Russia and Georgia) used armoured vehicles and artillery during the figt for the city. On August 9, the Russian 58th Army commander Anatoly Khrulyov was wounded in a Georgian ambush which reportedly inflicted heavy losses on the Russian forces. That day Russian sources claimed that the Russian Army had regained control over the city, while Georgian sources denied that insisting the fighting was still on. After the Russians drove the Georgians out of the outskirts of Tskhinvali, the Georgian units regrouped with armored reinforcements from Gori. On the later half of August 9, the regrouped Georgian forces launched a new offensive against South Ossetian and Russian defenders of Tskhinvali using heavy artillery (howitzers), GRAD rocket launchers, and large-caliber mortars. Heavy fighting was underway on the city outskirts, as at least three Georgian tanks were reported hit. Just before midnight a five-hour artillery onslaught on the city ended. The OSInform News Agency claimed a major Georgian attack had been stopped, reporting 12 Georgian tanks destroyed and 1 Georgian bomber shot down. The fighting with the Georgian infantry on the south of Tshinvali continued. Civilians still remained in the basements with no food or water. The South Ossetian forces complained that Georgia has yet not provided a peace corridor to evacuate the civilians caught up in crossfire.

By August 10, the joint Russian and South Ossetian forces regained control over the city center as the Georgian forces withdrew as Russia had demanded. However, according to the Russians some Georgian snipers and mobile infantry groups still remained in Tskhinvali.

While there was no ground fighting in Gori, the launch point of the Georgian military, the city was attacked from the air and large areas associated with or nearby the Georgian military were heavily damaged. Some 60 civilians were killed in the bombing when several apartment blocks were hit.

Tskhinvali Destroyed

Many sources confirmed the capital of South Ossetia had been over 70% completely devastated by the Georgian artillery fire by the night of August 8, the day of the Olympics Opening Ceremony in China. The heavy artillery barrage on the suburban area began at 23.30, August 7.

Casualties

According to a Russian officials' estimate, around 1,500-2,000 civilians have died (the pre-war population being around 30,000). A South Ossetian official claimed that "foreign mercenaries" were found among the dead Georgian soldiers (that information has not been confirmed by Georgia), some described as having a black ethnicity.. Several journalists were reported to be among the casualties, including the two who were embedded with the ambushed Russian armoured column.

Accusations of genocide

The South Ossetian spokesmen repeatedly accused the Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili of genocide, whereas eyewitnesses and survivors speaking on Russian TV channels referred to the event as "a massacre, not a military operation".

During the meeting with Russia' Prime Minister Vladimir Putin the South Ossetian refugees reported that "in the Znaur region, the Georgians burned up a few young women in their home... We've seen a Georgian tank run over an old lady running away with two children... We've seen a one-and-a-half-year-old baby knived by a Georgian soldier"

The Central Committee of Information and Press of South Ossetia reported on August 10 that eight small towns (or villages) in South Ossetia were leveled and their defenders massacred. As Ilona Dzhoyeva, a 19-year-old student and a resident of the village of Dmenes, said, "The Georgian aircraft bombed the houses of civilians, and then the soldiers came in shooting elders, women and children point-blank... The running people were shot on sight, the wounded were finished off by shots in the head. Only a few of us managed to escape from our village... We got to the position of the Russian peacekeepers and they brought us to safety... "

Quotations during the battle

August 9, 2008

"The Georgian snipers keep firing at vehicles transporting the wounded to the hospitals of South Ossetia", said Irina Glagoleva, a spokeswoman for the South Ossetia government.

"The women and children in Tskhinvali suffer from thirst. The city has not had any access to water, gas, electricity for 3 days. The cell phones are losing power. The Georgian snipers shoot anyone who tries to get out into the street", reports the OSInform News Agency.

August 10, 2008 The South Ossetia Secretary of State Konstantin Kochiyev told the REGNUM News Agency, "The situation in the Republic of South Ossetia has changed to a catastrophe during the past two days. The city of Tskhinvali no longer exists. The number of dead is uncountable, there seem to be thousands. How many more have been tortured to death by the Georgian aggressors is hard to imagine. This cannot be forgiven. The atrocities of the Georgian troops are beyond measure. South Ossetia will never forgive what has happened to our people. There are many dead bodies of Georgian soldiers and broken vehicles both on the outskirts of Tskhinvali and near its center. Today and last night, the Ossetian fighters continued defending the territory, but the enemy doesn't stop. Our forces are running out. We're waiting for Russia to support. It's not even about hours, it's about minutes."'

External links

Videos

• Russian convoy moving towards Tskhinvali, 06:20
• Destruction in Tskhinvali, 01:36
• Casualties in Tskhinvali, 05:17
• Damaged hospital building in Tskhinvali, 02:17