Battle of Tskhinvali
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2008) |
| Battle of Tskhinvali | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of 2008 South Ossetia War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Georgia |
 Russia South Ossetia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Zaza Gogava | Marat Kulakhmetov | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 500 Georgian peacekeepers, unknown number of attack forces | 2 batallions of Russian peacekeepers, unknown units of Russian 58th Army | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Officially 12 Russian KIA, 150 wounded | ||||||
| 1,600 people killed according to South Ossetian sources, about 100 people killed according to the Georgians.[1] | |||||||
The Battle of Tskhinvali, taking place in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, Georgia, during the second week of August 2008, is the main battle in the 2008 South Ossetia War. Both Tskhinvali and Gori, the Georgian logistics center, lie near (about 30km) each other in the Greater Liakhvi River valley.
Battle begins
The Georgian Army crossed the frontier of the South Ossetian breakaway zone on the early hours of August 8 2008 after initially subjecting various locations along the crossings to mortar fire. Tanks and APC supported by artillery launched a thrust towards Tskhinvali. Opposed mostly ineffectively by South Ossetian forces the Georgians made good progress and by the end of August 8th were in control of a significant portion of the city.
Russian counteroffensive
The Russian Army late on August 8th crossed the border and have made contact with Georgian forces outside the capital. The Russian forces seem to have been based on 58th Army. This is in addition to Russian peacekeepers inside the city. The Russian forces used armour and artillery to pound the Georgian Army positions inside the city and its surrounding areas. On August 9th Russian sources claimed that they had wrested control of the city back,[2] while Georgian sources denied this and insisted that fighting the still raged.[1]
Gori Under Attack
9 August, 2008 Press (BBC) reports panic in Gori, home of the main Georgian military base in the area.[3]
External Links
South Ossetia news
Fighting rages in Tskinvali
Russian: Statement on the Situation in South Ossetia
References
 | This article about a battle is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |