Infrastructure damage during the Russo-Georgian War: Difference between revisions
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{{main |Russo-Georgian War}}{{See also|Reconstruction efforts after the Russo-Georgian War}} |
{{main |Russo-Georgian War}} |
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{{See also|Reconstruction efforts after the Russo-Georgian War}} |
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[[File:Dfnsindust-georgia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|alt=Map of Georgia, indicating defence plants|1993 US map of Georgia's defence industry: [[Tbilaviamsheni]], an aircraft-assembly plant in Tbilisi which was bombed during the war, and component plants in other cities]] |
[[File:Dfnsindust-georgia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|alt=Map of Georgia, indicating defence plants|1993 US map of Georgia's defence industry: [[Tbilaviamsheni]], an aircraft-assembly plant in Tbilisi which was bombed during the war, and component plants in other cities]] |
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Some '''Infrastructure damage during the Russo-Georgian War''' took place. |
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'''Infrastructure damage during the Russo-Georgian War''' became noticeable on 12 August when local authorities claimed that about 70 percent of Tskhinvali's buildings (public and private) had been damaged during the Georgian military operation.<ref name=damage>{{cite web |url=http://www.rian.ru/osetia_news/20080812/150312485.html |script-title=ru:Почти 70% Цхинвали разрушено во время боевых действий |agency=RIA Novosti |date=12 August 2008|language=ru}}</ref> According to later Russian statements, about 20 percent of Tskhinvali's buildings had been damaged and 10 percent were "beyond repair".<ref name=damage2>{{cite web|url=http://www.interfax-news.com/3/420066/news.aspx |title=One tenth of Tskhinvali buildings beyond repair – Russian ministry |agency=[[Interfax]] |date=17 August 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821055506/http://www.interfax-news.com/3/420066/news.aspx |archivedate=21 August 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In late August, South Ossetian parliament deputy speaker Tarzan Kokoity claimed that according to a preliminary assessment, Georgian damage in South Ossetia was valued at 100 billion rubles.<ref name=damageOs>{{cite web |url=http://www.rosbalt.ru/2008/08/22/516417.html |script-title=ru:Грузинский счет за разрушенный Цхинвал |publisher=Rosbalt |date=22 August 2008|language=ru}}</ref> |
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==Background== |
==Background== |
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According to [[Human Rights Watch]] (HRW): |
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{{Quotation|"[o]n the night of August 7-8, Georgian forces subjected the city of Tskhinvali and several nearby Ossetian villages, including Nizhnii Gudjabauri and Khetagurovo, to heavy shelling. [...] Tskhinvali was heavily shelled during daytime hours on August 8. [...] Shelling resumed at a smaller scale on August 9, when Georgian forces were targeting Russian troops who by then had moved into Tskhinvali and other areas of South Ossetia."}} |
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| ⚫ | HRW reported that South Ossetian fighters took up positions in civilian objects (including schools), making them permissible military aims. Several of these objects were then targeted by Georgian artillery.<ref name="hrw_shelling">{{cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/en/node/79681/section/10|work=Up in Flames|title=2.2 Indiscriminate Shelling of Tskhinvali and Outlying Villages|date=23 January 2009|publisher=Human Rights Watch |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205015330/http://www.hrw.org/en/node/79681/section/10 |archivedate=5 February 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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==Tskhinvali == |
==Tskhinvali == |
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On 12 August 2008, local authorities claimed that about 70 percent of Tskhinvali's buildings (public and private) had been damaged during the Georgian military operation.<ref name=damage>{{cite web |url=http://www.rian.ru/osetia_news/20080812/150312485.html |script-title=ru:Почти 70% Цхинвали разрушено во время боевых действий |agency=RIA Novosti |date=12 August 2008|language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813124807/http://www.rian.ru/osetia_news/20080812/150312485.html |archivedate=13 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> According to later Russian statement, about 20 percent of Tskhinvali's buildings had been damaged and 10 percent were "beyond repair".<ref name=damage2>{{cite web |url=http://www.interfax-news.com/3/420066/news.aspx |title=One tenth of Tskhinvali buildings beyond repair – Russian ministry |agency=[[Interfax]] |date=17 August 2008 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080821055506/www.interfax-news.com/3/420066/news.aspx |archivedate=21 August 2008}}</ref> In late August, South Ossetian parliament deputy speaker Tarzan Kokoity claimed that according to a preliminary assessment, Georgian damage in South Ossetia was valued at 100 billion [[Russian ruble]]s.<ref name=damageOs>{{cite web |url=http://www.rosbalt.ru/2008/08/22/516417.html |script-title=ru:Грузинский счет за разрушенный Цхинвал |publisher=Rosbalt |date=22 August 2008|language=ru |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20120214122127/http://www.rosbalt.ru/federal/2008/08/22/516417.html |archivedate=14 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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The Georgian government reported that Tskhinvali "was largely reduced to rubble" as a result of Russian air attacks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement on Russian attack in Tskhinvali |url=http://www.president.pl/_pliki/en/Georgia/810/Statement%20on%20Russian%20attack%20in%20Tskhinvali.pdf |publisher=Government of Georgia |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318182704/http://www.president.pl/_pliki/en/Georgia/810/Statement%20on%20Russian%20attack%20in%20Tskhinvali.pdf |archivedate=18 March 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> "When aircraft started bombing our positions in Tskhinvali, this is when most civilian buildings were burned", explained [[Davit Kezerashvili]].<ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{cite news|author=Peter Finn|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/16/AR2008081600502_pf.html |title=A Two-Sided Descent into Full-Scale War |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=17 August 2008}}</ref> Russian journalist [[Yulia Latynina]] also blamed Russia for damaging the city, saying that when Georgian forces entered Tskhinvali it was intact. After they were driven out by the Russians, the city was in ruins.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ej.ru/?a=note&id=8611 |title=200 КМ ТАНКОВ. О РОССИЙСКО-ГРУЗИНСКОЙ ВОЙНЕ. ЧАСТЬ 5 |date=29 November 2008 |author=Yulia Latynina|publisher=EJ |language=ru}} {{cite web |url=http://russiangeorgianwar.blogspot.com/2009/02/julia-latynina-articles-on-august-war.html |title=Translation}}</ref> |
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==Russia bombings== |
==Russia bombings== |
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Russia bombed [[airfields]] and other economic infrastructure |
Russia bombed [[airfields]] and other economic infrastructure. The [[Black Sea]] port of Poti was also bombed, where eight to eleven Russian warplanes reportedly attacked container tanks and a shipbuilding plant.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/georgia/2525400/Georgia-Russia-enters-into-war-in-South-Ossetia.html|title=Georgia: Russia enters into 'war' in South Ossetia |work=The Telegraph | first=Adrian | last=Blomfield | date=8 August 2008 |archiveurl=https://archive.is/11r3 |archivedate=14 September 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 15 August 2008, Russian forces advancing towards Tbilisi blew up the railway bridge near [[Kaspi]], about {{convert|50|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the Georgian capital. The cement factory and civilian area in Kaspi were also damaged by Russian bombing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/200809/20080903ATT36101/20080903ATT36101EN.pdf |publisher=European Parliament |author=Ad hoc delegation to Georgia |title=REPORT FROM THE CHAIR: Mrs Marie Anne ISLER BEGUIN |date=19 August 2008}}</ref> The destruction of the railway bridge sabotaged the east-west link of Georgia and Armenia's main trade route.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.oneworld.am/2008/08/20/georgia-armenian-trade-concerns/ |title=Georgia: Armenian Trade Concerns |date=20 August 2008 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20100622062811/http://blog.oneworld.am/2008/08/20/georgia-armenian-trade-concerns/ |archivedate=22 June 2010}}</ref> |
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[[Nikolay Bordyuzha]], Secretary-General of the [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]], stated that Armenia lost $500 million due to problems with the communications during the war.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://regnum.ru/news/polit/1050235.html |script-title=ru:Генсек ОДКБ огласил потери Армении за время войны в Южной Осетии |publisher=Regnum |date=3 September 2008 |language=ru}}</ref> |
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==United Nations Institute for Training and Research== |
==United Nations Institute for Training and Research== |
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The [[United Nations Institute for Training and Research]] (UNITAR) released a series of detailed satellite maps of the regions affected by the war, |
The [[United Nations Institute for Training and Research]] (UNITAR) released a series of detailed satellite maps of the regions affected by the war, obtained on 19 August from [[UNOSAT]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/asp/prod_free.asp?id=101 |title=13 GEORGIA MAPS |publisher=[[UNOSAT]] |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080828044253/http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/asp/prod_free.asp?id=101 |archivedate=28 August 2008}}</ref> Damage was assessed primarily from satellite images with a resolution of 50 cm. Since it was an initial assessment, it was not independently validated on the ground. UNOSAT reported that 230 buildings in Tskhinvali (5.5 percent of the total) were destroyed or severely damaged. In the villages north of the city, up to 51.9 percent of buildings were damaged.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/freeproducts/Georgia/Russia_ConflictAug08/UNOSAT_GEO_Village_Damage_Summary_Tskhinvali_19aug08_Highres.pdf |title=Village Damage Summary |publisher=UNOSAT |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080916022725/http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/freeproducts/Georgia/Russia_ConflictAug08/UNOSAT_GEO_Village_Damage_Summary_Tskhinvali_19aug08_Highres.pdf |archivedate=16 September 2008}}</ref> UNOSAT provided imagery of six Georgian naval vessels partially or completely submerged in Poti; no other damage to physical infrastructure or ship-related oil spills were revealed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/freeproducts/Georgia/Russia_ConflictAug08/Poti/UNOSAT_GEO_QB_Damage_Assessment_POTI_25Aug2008_A1_Highres.pdf|title=Satellite damage assessment for Poti, Georgia| publisher=United Nations |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080916002938/http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/freeproducts/Georgia/Russia_ConflictAug08/Poti/UNOSAT_GEO_QB_Damage_Assessment_POTI_25Aug2008_A1_Highres.pdf |archivedate=16 September 2008}}</ref> |
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Human Rights Watch used the UNOSAT satellite images to prove the rampant arson of ethnic-Georgian villages by Ossetian militia in South Ossetia.<ref name="Ethnic Attacks">{{cite web |url=http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/28/georgi19712.htm |title=Georgia: Satellite Images Show Destruction, Ethnic Attacks |date=29 August 2008 |publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> Amnesty International noted that the Russo-Georgian battle in Tskhinvali during the war had possibly resulted in the destruction of the most of the city by the end of large-scale conflict by 10 August; however, after the war Georgian villages near Tskhinvali were damaged.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/10/09/idUS200979+09-Oct-2008+PRN20081009 |title=Amnesty International Satellite Images Reveal Damage to South Ossetian Villages After... |work=Reuters |date=9 October 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222225015/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/10/09/idUS200979+09-Oct-2008+PRN20081009 |archivedate=22 February 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 13:05, 22 February 2024
Some Infrastructure damage during the Russo-Georgian War took place.
Background
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW):
"[o]n the night of August 7-8, Georgian forces subjected the city of Tskhinvali and several nearby Ossetian villages, including Nizhnii Gudjabauri and Khetagurovo, to heavy shelling. [...] Tskhinvali was heavily shelled during daytime hours on August 8. [...] Shelling resumed at a smaller scale on August 9, when Georgian forces were targeting Russian troops who by then had moved into Tskhinvali and other areas of South Ossetia."
HRW reported that South Ossetian fighters took up positions in civilian objects (including schools), making them permissible military aims. Several of these objects were then targeted by Georgian artillery.[1]
Tskhinvali
On 12 August 2008, local authorities claimed that about 70 percent of Tskhinvali's buildings (public and private) had been damaged during the Georgian military operation.[2] According to later Russian statement, about 20 percent of Tskhinvali's buildings had been damaged and 10 percent were "beyond repair".[3] In late August, South Ossetian parliament deputy speaker Tarzan Kokoity claimed that according to a preliminary assessment, Georgian damage in South Ossetia was valued at 100 billion Russian rubles.[4]
The Georgian government reported that Tskhinvali "was largely reduced to rubble" as a result of Russian air attacks.[5] "When aircraft started bombing our positions in Tskhinvali, this is when most civilian buildings were burned", explained Davit Kezerashvili.[6] Russian journalist Yulia Latynina also blamed Russia for damaging the city, saying that when Georgian forces entered Tskhinvali it was intact. After they were driven out by the Russians, the city was in ruins.[7]
Russia bombings
Russia bombed airfields and other economic infrastructure. The Black Sea port of Poti was also bombed, where eight to eleven Russian warplanes reportedly attacked container tanks and a shipbuilding plant.[8] On 15 August 2008, Russian forces advancing towards Tbilisi blew up the railway bridge near Kaspi, about 50 km (31 mi) from the Georgian capital. The cement factory and civilian area in Kaspi were also damaged by Russian bombing.[9] The destruction of the railway bridge sabotaged the east-west link of Georgia and Armenia's main trade route.[10]
Nikolay Bordyuzha, Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, stated that Armenia lost $500 million due to problems with the communications during the war.[11]
United Nations Institute for Training and Research
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) released a series of detailed satellite maps of the regions affected by the war, obtained on 19 August from UNOSAT.[12] Damage was assessed primarily from satellite images with a resolution of 50 cm. Since it was an initial assessment, it was not independently validated on the ground. UNOSAT reported that 230 buildings in Tskhinvali (5.5 percent of the total) were destroyed or severely damaged. In the villages north of the city, up to 51.9 percent of buildings were damaged.[13] UNOSAT provided imagery of six Georgian naval vessels partially or completely submerged in Poti; no other damage to physical infrastructure or ship-related oil spills were revealed.[14]
Human Rights Watch used the UNOSAT satellite images to prove the rampant arson of ethnic-Georgian villages by Ossetian militia in South Ossetia.[15] Amnesty International noted that the Russo-Georgian battle in Tskhinvali during the war had possibly resulted in the destruction of the most of the city by the end of large-scale conflict by 10 August; however, after the war Georgian villages near Tskhinvali were damaged.[16]
References
- ^ "2.2 Indiscriminate Shelling of Tskhinvali and Outlying Villages". Up in Flames. Human Rights Watch. 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 5 February 2009.
- ^ Почти 70% Цхинвали разрушено во время боевых действий (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 12 August 2008. Archived from the original on 13 August 2008.
- ^ "One tenth of Tskhinvali buildings beyond repair – Russian ministry". Interfax. 17 August 2008. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008.
- ^ Грузинский счет за разрушенный Цхинвал (in Russian). Rosbalt. 22 August 2008. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012.
- ^ "Statement on Russian attack in Tskhinvali" (PDF). Government of Georgia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2009.
- ^ Peter Finn (17 August 2008). "A Two-Sided Descent into Full-Scale War". The Washington Post.
- ^ Yulia Latynina (29 November 2008). "200 КМ ТАНКОВ. О РОССИЙСКО-ГРУЗИНСКОЙ ВОЙНЕ. ЧАСТЬ 5" (in Russian). EJ. "Translation".
- ^ Blomfield, Adrian (8 August 2008). "Georgia: Russia enters into 'war' in South Ossetia". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022.
- ^ Ad hoc delegation to Georgia (19 August 2008). "REPORT FROM THE CHAIR: Mrs Marie Anne ISLER BEGUIN" (PDF). European Parliament.
- ^ "Georgia: Armenian Trade Concerns". 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 22 June 2010.
- ^ Генсек ОДКБ огласил потери Армении за время войны в Южной Осетии (in Russian). Regnum. 3 September 2008.
- ^ "13 GEORGIA MAPS". UNOSAT. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008.
- ^ "Village Damage Summary" (PDF). UNOSAT. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2008.
- ^ "Satellite damage assessment for Poti, Georgia" (PDF). United Nations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2008.
- ^ "Georgia: Satellite Images Show Destruction, Ethnic Attacks". Human Rights Watch. 29 August 2008.
- ^ "Amnesty International Satellite Images Reveal Damage to South Ossetian Villages After..." Reuters. 9 October 2008. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.