RT: Ossetian War

Ossetian War

New website allows South Ossetia war victims to speak out: The conflict in South Ossetia in August may have been short, but the consequences will continue for a long time. A website has been set up by those affected by the fighting to allow fellow victims share stories and make sure no one ever forgets the tragedy and suffering of the people.

New York Times report questions Georgia’s role in Ossetian war: The New York Times has published an article which questions Georgia’s account of the conflict in South Ossetia in August this year. Based on the observations of OSCE monitors, it reports that Georgia was not acting defensively, but started the shelling of civilians in the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinval.

Ukraine ‘continues to arm Georgia’: A parliamentary investigation in Ukraine has found that the country supplied weapons to Georgia prior to Tbilisi's attack on South Ossetia. The investigators say the country now bears a moral responsibility for what happened in South Ossetia.

Scared Ossetians flee Georgia: Ethnic Ossetians are leaving Georgia in search of somewhere to live in South Ossetia. Refugees claim they're being forced out of their homes and villages in Georgia, where most of them have spent all their lives.

Russia demands arms embargo on Georgia: Russia is demanding a total arms embargo on Georgia. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, made the announcement while meeting his counterpart from Nicaragua, Samuel Santos Lopez, in Moscow.

War photos show horror of Ossetian conflict: A photo exhibition of the five-day war between Georgia and South Ossetia is opening in Moscow. The images were shot by the Ria Novosti news agency, whose correspondents and photographers were at work within hours of the conflict breaking out.

“Georgian soldiers were doped to kill civilians”: Many of the Georgian soldiers who took part in the attack on South Ossetia in August were drugged before going into combat, according to a Moscow-based human rights group.

EU observers ‘playing with fire’ in Georgia: The EU observers’ mission is failing to curb Georgian violations of the peace plan, Russia’s Foreign Minister has said. Sergey Lavrov has accused the European Union of "playing with fire".

US leads $4.5 billion “support package” for Georgia: International donors have offered $4.5 billion in aid to Georgia. The money is expected to be spent on rebuilding the country’s economy and infrastructure damaged after the conflict between Georgia and Russia last August.

‘EU observers see neither artillery shelling nor abductions’: Provocations continue in South Ossetia against civilians and the police. Georgian police shell border villages and invade their territories. European observers, in turn, pretend nothing is happening.

Georgia torpedoes talks on South Ossetia - Moscow: High-level discussions on security and stability in Georgia's neighbouring republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Geneva have been delayed. Russia has accused Georgia of deliberately stalling the first direct talks between the two countries, but Tbilisi points the finger at Moscow.

International Court rules for protection of South Ossetian and Abkhaz civilians: The International Court of Justice has ordered Russia and Georgia to defend civilians in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

War over but anger remains: South Ossetians remember: The shooting may be over but the anger remains. The people of South Ossetia have to come to terms with the devastation of their land. Those who have lost their homes are dreading the coming winter.

Abkhazia asks Ireland and Belarus to recognise independence: Abkhazia has called on the parliaments of Belarus and the Republic of Ireland to recognise its independence. The former Georgian breakaway republic says it was asking Ireland to acknowledge its status because it had also had to fight hard for independence from a colonial power.

South Ossetians fear renewed Georgian aggression: People in South Ossetia fear they’re vulnerable to Georgian attack after the pull-out of Russian troops, claiming they’re now defenceless. European observers are in place instead, but they’re unarmed, and locals say they’re frightened of a repeat of Georgian aggression.

South Ossetians sue Georgia: The European Court of Human Rights had received some 2.729 applications from South Ossetians following the intervention of Georgian armed forces in August.

Russian soldiers leave Georgia: Russian peacekeepers are dismantling more of their checkpoints on the Georgian side of the security zone on the Georgian-South Ossetian border. Moscow has promised to complete the withdrawal by the October 10 as part of the Sarkozy-Medvedev plan agreed by all sides involved in the conflict.

Tension mounts after South Ossetia blast: The situation in the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinval, remains tense following Friday’s deadly car bomb attack. Following a night on which the sound of gunfire could be heard, the capital’s inhabitants, alarmed at the prospect of further violence on the streets, are choosing to stay at home on Saturday.

PACE finds an 'Evil Empire': The third day of the PACE session was marked by severe criticism of and even insults to Russia. In an interview with Osetinfo.ru, Aleksandr Brod, the chief of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights comments on the delegates’ speeches and shares his views on the further development of the Russia-Western relationships.

Russian refugees flee Georgia: A group of Russian refugees has had to cross the border with Georgia at gunpoint. They said that, despite having all the necessary documents, the Georgian police didn't want to let them through.

Georgia's territorial integrity ‘not up for discussion’ - Merkel: Georgia's territorial integrity is not an issue to discuss. That’s according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel who spoke to a news conference following talks with President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the Russian-German business forum in St Petersburg.

Council of Europe: Georgia used ‘disproportionate force’: The war in South Ossetia was the result of a serious escalation of tension and a worsening of the security situation, says the draft resolution of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly. It also recognises that the shelling of Tskhinval by Georgian forces led to full-scale military action.

Georgia wants Sweden to be its trustee: Georgia has formally asked Sweden to represent its interests in Russia. Swedish opposition members believe the demand should be turned down.

PACE rejects move to strip Russia of its powers: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has turned down a proposal to suspend Russia's voting rights in the organisation. The initiative was put forward by 24 PACE representatives who were unhappy over Russia's role in the South Ossetia conflict.

EU observers replace Russian peacekeepers: Unarmed EU observers in light armoured vehicles have carried out their first patrol near the Georgian city of Gori in the Georgian buffer zones adjoining Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

South Ossetia: Chronicle of Contract Murder: That’s the name of a new book dedicated to the victims of the Georgian aggression on August 7-12 containing documents and photographs, as well as survivors’ testimonies. The book was released by human rights movement Soprotivleniye and the Public Committee for Investigation of War Crimes in South Ossetia and Aid to the Affected Civilians.

‘Jews will come back to S. Ossetia’: The Jewish quarter in South Ossetia’s capital Tskhinval is the oldest of all the national communities there, but it was ruined as long ago as 1991 due to Georgian aggression, said Zinovy Kogan, head of Congress of Jewish Religious Organisations and Unions, in an interview with Osetiainfo.ru.

German journalists chronicle South Ossetian war: The respected German news weekly, Spiegel, has released the results of its own investigation into the war in South Ossetia. It asked the question: who’s to blame? And then asked its journalists in both Georgia and Russia to find the answer. The results may surprise some people.

RT photo report from post-war Tskhinval: RT cameraman Semyon Khorunzhy went to the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinval shortly after the war finished. In this exclusive photographic record, he reveals daily life in a city almost ruined as a result of the Georgian military assault in early August.

Tshinval tragedy: eyewitness testimonies: South Ossetians who survived the bombing in August, 2008 will never forget the terrible days they had to go through. And the children who saw the death of their loved ones will not remain children, they were forced to grow up too quickly.

Georgian aggression: chronology of war: About 7 PM on August 7, 2008 Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said live on TV: "Let's stop the escalation and begin negotiations - direct, multilateral, what else. Let us give peace and dialogue a chance". Saakashvili added that a few hours before he, as the commander of Georgian army, had ordered all units of the Georgian Defense Ministry and police not to open fire.

South Ossetia and Georgia: historic roots of the conflict: The history between Georgia and South Ossetia shows that the inhumane military aggression from the Georgian side in August of 2008 has profound historic grounds. Over the centuries the anti-Ossetian policy of the Georgian authorities has always been a primary cause of tension. The authorities of Georgia tried to force South Ossetians to yield, tolerate the position of being dependent subjects, and refused to allow them to take independent decisions concerning their fate.

Human rights activists: exact war victims number still disputed: The first reports about the number of victims came on August, 8 from the President of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, who claimed a figure of 1400. The following evening, 9, Russian ambassador to Georgia Vyacheslav Kovalenko claimed that not less than 2,000 were killed. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch organization has said the figures were overestimated.

New victims of South Ossetian war identified: New names of South Ossetian victims of the 5 day war with Georgia were made public. Here is the list:

A war of annihilation: An inquest has shown that aggressors were attempting to erase South Ossetia from the face of the Earth, an investigator has told "Rossiyskaya Newspaper".

Tskhinval is 70% destroyed – South Ossetia’s Prosecutor General: Georgian troops have virtually fulfilled their aim of destroying Tskhinval - the city is 70 per cent destroyed and according to the current estimations more than 3,500 people suffered, Taimuraz Khugaev, South Ossetia’s Prosecutor General, said in an interview to an Osetinfo correspondent.

Revealed: the bias of Western NGOs in South Ossetia: A senior Russian human rights official has spoken out against attempts by Western NGOs to downplay the number of casualties in the 5-day battle for Tskhinval. Public Chamber member and Director of the Moscow Human Rights Bureau, Alexander Brod, says groups such as Human Rights Watch were in no position to make an objective assessment of war casualties.

Witnesses reveal 'Georgian atrocities': The Russian General Prosecutor’s Office has provided non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with the first details from the inquiry into alleged war crimes by Georgian forces in South Ossetia between August 7 and 12.

‘Worse than Stalingrad' – Tskhinval resident: Western journalists are professional, but when covering events in South Ossetia, they feel distrust. It’s connected with Russia’s Soviet past, which often becomes fear, says Elena Zelinskaya, a member of the public investigation commission on war crimes in South Ossetia and the vice president of the All-Russian non-profit-making organisation Media Union (Mediasoyuz).

Help and contacts info in South Ossetia: Here in one place you can find all possible contacts to obtain information about relatives and others lost in the South Ossetian conflict. South Ossetia needs the help of all those ready to give it.