Battle of Tskhinvali

{{Short description|2008 battle in the Russo-Georgian War}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Battle of Tskhinvali | partof = Russo-Georgian War | image = Tskhinvali battles (8 August) (en).svg | image_size = 240px | caption = Movements of opposing forces around Tskhinvali. Blue arrows show Georgian movements, red show Russian movements | date = 8–11 August 2008 (3 days) | place = Tskhinvali, Georgia | result = Russian-Ossetian victory * Georgian forces withdraw fully from the city * Russian forces continue to advance into undisputed Georgia | combatant1 = {{flagicon|Georgia}} Georgia | combatant2 = {{flagicon|Russia}} Russia {{flag|South Ossetia}} | commander1 = {{flagicon|Georgia}} Mikheil Saakashvili {{flagicon|Georgia}} Davit Kezerashvili {{flagicon|Georgia}} Mamuka Kurashvili {{flagicon|Georgia}} Vano Merabishvili {{flagicon|Georgia}} Zaza Gogava | commander2 = {{flagicon|Russia}} Anatoly Khrulyov (WIA) {{flagicon|Russia}} Marat Kulakhmetov {{flagicon|Russia}} Sulim Yamadayev {{flagicon|Russia}} Kazbek Friev<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.ge/files/556_10535_807500_Annex91_%D0%97%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%2C%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%88%D1%8C%D0%B1%D1%8B%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B8%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%87%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C.pdf|title=Annex 91 Здесь били, лишь бы бить и уничтожать|date=21 January 2009|language=ru|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117042614/http://mfa.gov.ge/files/556_10535_807500_Annex91_%D0%97%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%2C%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%88%D1%8C%D0%B1%D1%8B%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B8%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%87%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C.pdf|archivedate=17 November 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=22 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cominf.org/node/1166480740|script-title=ru:Анатолий Бибилов: «Мы защищали родной город, родную республику, что в этом героического?»|publisher=Information agency RES|date=8 August 2009|language=ru}}</ref> {{flagicon|South Ossetia}} {{ill|Anatoly Barankevich|ru|Баранкевич, Анатолий Константинович}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lenta.ru/lib/14164877 |script-title=ru:Баранкевич, Анатолий |publisher=Lenta.ru|language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://baltportal.ru/index.php?type=500&idNews=35458 |script-title=ru:Генерал Баранкевич лично подбил грузинский танк|author=www.kaliningrad.ru|publisher=BaltPortal.ru|language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204052336/http://baltportal.ru/index.php?type=500&idNews=35458 |archivedate=4 December 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> {{flagicon|South Ossetia}} Vasily Lunev<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nr2.ru/perm/190456.html |script-title=ru:Войсками Южной Осетии командует бывший пермский военком генерал-майор Василий Лунев |author=Aleksandr Volkov |publisher=Novyy Region |date=11 August 2008 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207182024/http://www.nr2.ru/perm/190456.html |archivedate=7 December 2008 |url-status=dead |access-date=27 October 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|script-title=ru:Обороной Южной Осетии руководит выходец с Урала|url=http://pda.ura.ru/content/perm/11-08-2008/news/42476.html|publisher=URA.Ru|date=11 August 2008|language=ru|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824043717/http://pda.ura.ru/content/perm/11-08-2008/news/42476.html|archivedate=24 August 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=27 March 2014}}</ref> | strength1 = {{flagicon|Georgia}} 10,000–11,000 servicemen in entire South Ossetia{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=214}} | strength2 = {{flagicon|Russia}} 496 from Russian battalion, 488 from North Ossetia serving as peacekeepers.{{sfn|Volume III|2009|p=371}} Up to 10,000 troops arrived from Russia as reinforcements<ref name="defensebrief"/> {{flagicon|South Ossetia}} Up to 3,500 troops.{{sfn|Volume III|2009|p=520}} | casualties1 = {{flagicon|Georgia}} '''Georgia''' Fewer than total war casualties ''Georgian Armed Forces:'' *Killed: 169<ref name="list2">{{cite web|url=http://mod.gov.ge/index.php?page=-10&Id=31&lang=1|title=List of Casualties among the Georgian Military Servicemen|publisher=Ministry of Defence of Georgia|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607052439/http://www.mod.gov.ge/index.php?page=-10&Id=31&lang=1|archivedate=7 June 2012}}</ref> *Wounded: 947<ref name="list3">{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=597|title=BASIC FACTS: CONSEQUENCES OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION IN GEORGIA|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802211733/http://mfa.gov.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=597|archivedate=2 August 2014}}</ref> *MIA: 1<ref name="list2"/> ''Ministry of Internal Affairs:'' *Killed: 11<ref name="list3"/> *Wounded: 227<ref name="list3"/> *MIA: 3<ref name="list3"/> | casualties2 = {{flagicon|Russia}} '''Russia''' Fewer than total war casualties *Killed: 67<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.ria.ru/russia/20090807/155750672.html |title=Russia increases death toll in S. Ossetia conflict to 67 soldiers |agency=RIA Novosti |date=7 August 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426232310/http://en.ria.ru/russia/20090807/155750672.html |archivedate=26 April 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> *Wounded: 283<ref name="64_killed">{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/gc07/idUKTRE51K1B820090221|title=Russia lost 64 troops in Georgia war, 283 wounded|work=Reuters|date=21 February 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224163224/http://uk.reuters.com/article/gc07/idUKTRE51K1B820090221 |archivedate=24 February 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> *MIA: 3<ref name="64_killed"/> {{flagicon|South Ossetia}} '''South Ossetia''' Fewer than total war casualties ''Ministry of Defence:'' *Killed: 27{{sfn|Tanks|2010|pp=136-137}} *Wounded: 69<ref name="ugo-osetia-3">{{cite web|url=http://ugo-osetia.ru/9_35/9_35-6.html|script-title=ru:Юрий ТАНАЕВ: "Грузинская сторона по моральному духу и боеготовности не готова к активным действиям"|date=11 April 2009|author=Aleksandr Kelekhsaev|work=Южная Осетия|language=ru|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728080133/http://ugo-osetia.ru/9_35/9_35-6.html |archivedate=28 July 2013}}</ref> ''Ministry of Internal Affairs:'' *Killed: 10{{sfn|Tanks|2010|pp=136-137}} ''Ossetian reserves'': *Killed: {{circa}}50{{sfn|Tanks|2010|pp=136-137}} | campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Russo-Georgian War}} }}

The '''Battle of Tskhinvali''' ({{lang-ka|ცხინვალის ბრძოლა}}; {{langx|ru|link=no|Бои за Цхинвали}}) was a fight for the city of Tskhinvali, the capital of the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia. It was the only major battle in the Russo-Georgian War. Georgian ground troops entered the city on early 8 August 2008. After the three-day fierce fighting with South Ossetian militia and Russian troops, Georgian troops finally withdrew from the city on the evening of 10 August. By 11 August, all Georgian troops had left South Ossetia and Russian forces advanced into undisputed Georgia facing no resistance.

==Background==

===Deployment and goals=== {{See also|Timeline of the Russo-Georgian War}} Tskhinvali is located about {{convert|25|km|0|abbr=on}} from Gori.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/080808.shtml |title=Georgia: All-Out War Looms in South Ossetia |author1=Elizabeth Owen |author2=Giorgi Lomsadze |publisher=EurasiaNet |date=8 August 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506004749/http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/080808.shtml |archivedate=6 May 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=30 March 2014 }}</ref>

At 8:00 am on 1 August, an improvised explosive device detonated on the road near Tskhinvali near a Georgian police vehicle, wounding five police officers. In response, Georgian snipers fired on South Ossetian positions, killing four Ossetians and wounding seven.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=44}} Grenades and mortar fire were exchanged during the night of 1/2 August. The total Ossetian fatalities became six and the total wounded were now fifteen, among them several civilians; the Georgian casualties were six wounded civilians and one wounded policeman.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=44}} According to the OSCE mission, the incident was the worst outbreak of violence since 2004.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=208}} On 2–3 and again on 3–4 August, firing recommenced during the night.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=208}}

It was reported on 5 August 2008 that 300 volunteers from North Ossetia arrived in Tskhinvali to fight against Georgia, while mobilization of up to 2000 “volunteers” and Cossacks began in the North Caucasus.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lenta.ru/news/2008/08/04/volunteers/ |title=В Цхинвали прибыли 300 добровольцев из Северной Осетии |date=5 August 2008 |publisher=Lenta.ru |language=ru}}</ref> Freelance photographer Said Tsarnayev came to Tskhinvali on 7 August 2008 and intended to take photos of the nature. 48 Russian journalists had already been present for several days at Tsarnayev's hotel as "if they knew that something was going to happen."<ref name="scripted affair">{{cite web |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/Russia_Georgian_Scripted_Affair/1193319.html |title=Scene At Russia-Georgia Border Hinted At Scripted Affair |author=Brian Whitmore |publisher=RFE/RL |date=23 August 2008}}</ref>

By 20:16 Moscow Time on 7 August 2008,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=199443 |script-title=ru:Новое возгорание тлеющего конфликта |author=Andrey Baranov |publisher=Vesti |date=7 August 2008 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813052024/http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=199443 |archivedate=13 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> state-controlled Rossiya TV aired President of Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh as saying: "I have spoken to the president of South Ossetia. It has more or less stabilized now. A battalion from the North Caucasus District has entered the area."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/600/42/372391.htm |title=Moscow Claims Media War Win |publisher=The Moscow Times |author=Nikolaus von Twickel |date=17 November 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523210654/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/moscow-claims-media-war-win/372391.html |archivedate=23 May 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=12 March 2024 }}</ref> On 10 August 2008, ''Moskovskij Komsomolets'' published a report by journalist who was in Tskhinvali on the night of 7 August. The report states, "There are 1700 peacekeepers here."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mk.ru/old/article/2008/08/10/28316-troe-sutok-v-epitsentre-voynyi.html |script-title=ru:Трое суток в эпицентре войны |author=Irina Kuksenkova |publisher=Moskovskij Komsomolets |date=10 August 2008 |language=ru}}</ref> According to Russian Defence Ministry official, the 1990s ceasefire accord permitted Russia to station 500 peacekeepers in the conflict zone with 300 additional peacekeepers being reserved for the crises.<ref name="nytimes.com"/>

On 7 August 2008, foreign intelligence data indicating the deployment of the Russian forces near the Roki Tunnel became known to the Georgian government and numerous Georgian sources have stated that President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili became aware that more than 100 Russian military transport had already entered the Roki tunnel at about 23:00 on 7 August.<ref name="isdp">{{cite web|url=http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/silkroadpapers/0808Georgia-PP.pdf |author1=Svante E. Cornell |author2=Johanna Popjanevski |author3=Niklas Nilsson |title=Russia's War in Georgia: Causes and Implications for Georgia and the World |publisher=Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Policy papers|date=August 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920174526/http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/silkroadpapers/0808Georgia-PP.pdf |archivedate=20 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Chief of Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces, Zaza Gogava, told the Georgian parliamentary commission in October 2008 that Saakashvili told him on the secure line at 23:35 on 7 August that "developments went beyond all the limits" and issued orders to stop the ongoing invasion by Russian military hardware, to neutralise Ossetian artillery positions and to defend the civilians. Gogava, explaining the rationale for moving into Tskhinvali, said that "initially such a move was not envisaged", and the first reason for taking the city was to secure Georgian outposts under Ossetian artillery attack and the army had "to move fire line forward" inside Tskhinvali; the second motive was that the residents of the villages north to Tskhinvali could not be rescued via the by-pass road.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=19851|title=Chief of Staff Testifies Before War Commission|date=29 October 2008|publisher=Civil.Ge}}</ref>

According to opposition-minded Russian pundits, Georgian president Saakashvili did not intend to initiate hostilities in August 2008. It was Russia that began deployment of the 58th Army in the Dzau District to accumulate weaponry in preparation for the future occupation of Georgia and ordered separatists in Tskhinvali to open fire to divert Georgians' attention, but Georgian president dared to attack the invading Russian troops and take Tskhinvali, thus subverting the Russian Blitzkrieg. Tbilisi was not taken due to the intervention of the international community.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/caucas1/msg/2008/08/m152024.htm |title=Евгений Жмуриков. Наши танки на чужой земле. |author=Evgeny Zhmurikov |date=18 August 2008 |publisher=Memorial |language=ru}}</ref>

According to Russian analyst Konstantin Makienko, founder of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), the Georgian objective was "a rapid destruction of the Ossetian armed forces and a lightning capture of the republic's capital city of Tskhinvali — well before the Russian army could have a chance to intervene" and to establish a pro-Georgian regime in Tskhinvali with Dmitry Sanakoyev as its head. In anticipation of a Georgian operation, South Ossetia had deployed the bulk of its force to protect the town of Java in the north, which had left Tskhinvali sparsely defended.<ref name="cast" />

According to the ''Moscow Defence Brief'', an English-language magazine published by the Russian non-governmental organisation the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, the Georgian troops included the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Infantry Brigades, the Artillery Brigade, part of the 1st Infantry Brigade and the standalone Gori Tank Battalion. Additionally, special forces and Ministry of Internal Affairs servicemen were deployed. The total number of troops participating in the war was 16,000 according to the magazine.<ref name="defensebrief"/> According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, ten light infantry battalions of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th infantry brigades, special forces and an artillery brigade, totalling approximately 12,000 troops, had been deployed in the war.<ref name="rapidreaction">{{cite web|url=http://www.iiss.org/EasysiteWeb/getresource.axd?AssetID=20268&type=full&servicetype=Attachment|title=Russia's rapid reaction|author1=Alexander Nicoll|author2=Sarah Johnstone|date=September 2008|publisher=International Institute for Strategic Studies|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021133353/http://www.iiss.org/EasysiteWeb/getresource.axd?AssetID=20268&type=full&servicetype=Attachment|archivedate=21 October 2008|url-status=dead|access-date=6 December 2009}}</ref> According to the EU fact-finding mission, 10,000–11,000 Georgian soldiers took part in the war.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=214}}

According to the materials that were made available to Independent International Fact-Finding Mission by the South Ossetian authorities, South Ossetian light rifle battalions, artillery units and Soviet-era armoured vehicles took part in the conflict. The total strength of separatist military and law enforcement servicemen, including reservists, was less than 3,500.{{sfn|Volume III|2009|p=520}}

Former Chief of the General Staff of Russia Yuri Baluyevsky admitted in 2012 that the plan for the war with Georgia had been created in advance before August 2008 with the blessing of Vladimir Putin. In addition to the building of Russian military bases in South Ossetia, South Ossetian separatists were provided with weaponry and instructors. According to Baluyevsky, the Russian military had chosen South Ossetia as the site for the armed conflict by the summer 2008 and the date of hostilities "was defined from July to September" mostly to coincide with the Beijing Olympic Games. President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev had to authorize the use of force against Georgia as soon as Georgian artillery would attack South Ossetian militants and Russian military then would arrive in Tskhinvali in 6 hours. However, as researcher Andrey Illarionov observed, neither Putin nor Medvedev issued the order in August 2008 to start military operations against Georgia, but it was Major General M. Kulakhmetov, the commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces, who did so at about 23:50 on August 7 and the Russian operation began "at least 6 hours before the deaths of the Russian peacekeepers". However, due to the resistance offered by the Georgian military and artillery, the Russian forces did not manage to enter Tskhinvali in 6 hours as planned, which compelled the Russian leadership to alter their plans and finally the Russian military managed with the help of additional reinforcements deployed on 9 August, to enter Tskihnvali "only in early morning of August 10". On 9 August 2008, Putin ordered the Russian forces deployed to Tskhinvali to capture Tbilisi.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://georgiaonline.ge/articles/1348794434.php |title=What did the Russian Generals admit! |author=Andrey Illarionov |publisher=Georgia Online |date=27 September 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101131320/http://georgiaonline.ge/articles/1348794434.php |archivedate=1 January 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Battle==

===Georgian attack===

====Artillery preparation==== thumb|right|Situation in South Ossetia before the war thumb|right|Tskhinvali after the battle. The sign (in Russian) reads "Secondary school #6". August 2008.

Georgian artillery launched smoke bombs into South Ossetia at 23:35 on 7 August. This was followed by a 15-minute intermission, which purportedly enabled the civilians to escape, before the Georgian forces began bombarding hostile positions.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=209}} Georgian military intentionally targeted South Ossetian military objects, not civilian ones.{{sfn|Laaneots|2016|pp=58–59}}{{sfn|Tanks|2010|pp=48-49}}

Major-general Marat Kulakhmetov, the Commander of Joint Peacekeeping Forces, received in addition to an information on the start of the Georgian military operation in South Ossetia, the request from Mamuka Kurashvili (the commander of the Georgian peacekeepers) not to obstruct the operation.<ref name="cominf"/> Although Georgian military had pledged safety to the Russian peacekeepers for their neutrality, the Russian peacekeepers had to follow the Russian command to attack the Georgian troops.{{sfn|Laaneots|2016|pp=58–59}}

Artillery fire against aims in Khetagurovo was opened by the 4th Brigade at 00:40 and soon afterwards the village of Muguti was captured by the two Georgian light infantry battalions. The village of Khetagurovo was then captured by the two battalions after a battle with an inferior South Ossetian troops and several Ossetian-controlled villages of Znaur District to the west of Tskhinvali were taken by another battalion without meeting opposition, while the several villages of Akhalgori District were promptly taken by Georgian Interior Ministry special commandos.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|pp=48-49}} The purpose of the Georgian army was to advance to the north after capturing key positions around Tskhinvali. The Georgian troops would secure the Gupta bridge and the road to the Roki Tunnel, barring the Russian military from moving southward.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=209}}

Georgian sources state that the Georgian artillery hit the Russian troops on the road from the Roki Tunnel at 01:00. Separatist administrative buildings in Tskhinvali came under Georgian fire at 2:00 AM.<ref name="isdp"/> Georgian troops started closing in on Tskhinvali following several hours of bombardment. Ossetian bombardment of the Georgian forces near the village of Zemo Nikozi and Georgian artillery were unsuccessful. Ossetian peacekeeping battalion began to participate in the conflict.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=50}} Georgian forces engaged South Ossetian fighters near the town at 04:00 on 8 August, with Georgian tanks remotely shelling South Ossetian positions.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=50}}<ref name="cominf">{{cite web|url=http://www.cominf.org/node/1166478478 |title=Chronology of Events in South Ossetia 7-11 August 2008 |publisher=ИА Рес |date=13 October 2008}}</ref> An attempt to take the village of Kvaisa from the west of South Ossetia by the Georgian special forces was thwarted by a platoon of South Ossetian troops occupying secure positions, wounding several Georgian soldiers.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=50}} The Georgian 3rd Infantry Brigade entered the Eredvi area on the eastern flank to Tskhinvali at 06:00 and captured strategic positions; however, they were quickly confronted by a company-sized South Ossetian unit positioned at the Prisi Heights.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=51}} Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temur Iakobashvili told Agence France-Presse that Georgian government did not wish "to assault Tskhinvali, but to neutralise separatist positions," and that Georgian troops had taken control of eight South Ossetian villages. South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity had told Interfax that the Georgian assault of Tskhinvali was a "perfidious and vile" action.<ref name="afp01"/> By the morning, the South Ossetian authorities had reported that the Georgian shelling had killed at least 15 civilians.<ref name="afp01">{{cite web|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jy0s0tG42xwDFY5Uy_9JhazKqgEA|title=Heavy fighting as Georgia attacks rebel region |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=7 August 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822183403/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jy0s0tG42xwDFY5Uy_9JhazKqgEA|archivedate=22 August 2008}}</ref><ref name="Russian troops near S.Ossetia capital">{{cite web |url=http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080808/115903809.html |title=Russian troops near S.Ossetia capital, 10 peacekeepers killed |publisher=RIA Novosti |date=8 August 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410051138/http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080808/115903809.html |archivedate=10 April 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=20 September 2008 }}</ref>

According to Georgia, Ministry of Internal Affairs special troops entered into southern suburbs of Tskhinvali around 06:00 AM.{{sfn|Volume III|2009|p=60}} Artillery and tanks aided the Georgian advance.{{sfn|Volume III|2009|p=60}}{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=209}} Georgian troops traded fire with Russian peacekeepers near the Southern complex of the Russian peacekeepers at the entrance of the city. The Russians placed three BMP-1 vehicles near the base after coming under fire from the Georgian Otokar Cobra vehicles. The Georgians called in tank support, and three T-72s from the Independent Combined Tank Battalion soon arrived. According to the CAST, the Georgian tanks began firing at 6:30 and a Russian peacekeeper along with a South Ossetian spectator present on the roof were killed. The tanks then fired on the three Russian BMP-1 vehicles stationed in front of the base, killing five of their crew, who were soldiers of the 135th Motorized Infantry Regiment. During the engagement, one of the Georgian tanks, which was damaged by an RPG-7 rocket, became trapped in an irrigation ditch near the complex and was ditched by its crew. The remaining two tanks continued shelling the base from a remote distance and were joined by Georgian artillery and mortars.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=51}} The centre of the town was reached by 1,500 Georgian infantrymen by 10:00.<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=Washington Post |date=17 August 2008}}</ref> The Russian air force began raiding targets inside South Ossetia and Georgia proper after 10:00 on 8 August.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=54}}

According to the Russian authorities, Georgian troops had seized the Southern Base of the Russian peacekeepers by 11:00 AM. According to Russian government, it suffered its first casualties at around 12:00 when two servicemen were killed and five injured following an attempt by the Georgian troops to storm the northern peacekeeping base in Tskhinvali.{{sfn|Volume III|2009|pp=370–371}} Georgia has stated that it only targeted Russian peacekeepers in self-defence, after coming under fire from them.{{sfn|Volume III|2009|p=69}} In total, 10 Russian peacekeeping force soldiers were killed during the war according to the Russian government.{{sfn|Volume III|2009|p=476}}

===Russian intervention===

====Arrival of Russian reinforcements==== thumb|Burned Georgian T-72 tank thumb|A Russian armoured column in South Ossetia. [[File:Battalion Vostok 3.jpg|thumb|The Russian Army's Vostok Battalion in South Ossetia.]] thumb|A destroyed Georgian tank in Tskhinvali.

After the war, Denis Sidristy, captain in the 135th Regiment, said in the interview published by ''Krasnaya Zvezda'' that his unit was sent to Tskhinvali on 7 August.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> Sidristy said that he saw the Georgian midnight assault of Tskhinvali.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://old.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/4943 |title=NEW EVIDENCE EMERGES ON START OF GEORGIAN-RUSSIAN WAR |author=Niklas Nilsson |publisher=CACI Analyst |date=17 September 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140818143752/http://old.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/4943 |archivedate=18 August 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=8 October 2014 }}</ref> According to a senior Russian official, General Nikolai Uvarov, the first Russian battle unit (135th Motorized Rifle Regiment) was deployed around dawn on 8 August after the Georgian attack and they entered the Roki Tunnel into South Ossetia by 14:30 on August 8; however, due to fierce confrontation from Georgian troops, the Russian battalion managed to arrive in Tskhinvali the following evening. Georgia instead asserted that first Georgian encounter with the Russian troops took place at the tunnel before the dawn of August 8.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/world/europe/16georgia.html | work=The New York Times | first=C.J. | last=Chivers | title=Georgia Offers Fresh Evidence on War's Start | date=15 September 2008}}</ref>

According to CAST, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev probably ordered the deployment of the Russian forces to South Ossetia during the phone conversation with defense minister Anatoliy Serdyukov at about 01:00. According to CAST, the Russian Army began to arrive in South Ossetia at 2:00 AM on 8 August, when battalions from the 693rd and 135th Motorized Rifle Regiments began arriving through the Roki Tunnel. Individual groups began securing positions on the road towards Tskhinvali so additional Russian forces would enter the region unimpeded.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=49}} Russian battalions passed Java by 06:30. By 07:00, the Russian troops were near the Gupta bridge, when they were suddenly attacked by Georgian warplanes. Georgian warplanes were unsuccessful in destroying the bridge, which was necessary for the Russian army deployment to Tskhinvali. According to CAST, Georgian warplanes never flew again during the conflict after this.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|pp=51-52}}<ref name="isdp"/>{{rp|15}}

South Ossetian and Russian media reports emerged after the war that the Russian forces also shelled Tskhinvali from BM-21 Grads in the morning of 8 August.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://osinform.ru/10426-vstrecha-u-rukskogo-tonnelja.html |script-title=ru:Встреча у Рукского тоннеля |author=Akhsar Tskhurbati |publisher=OSInform |date=22 November 2008|language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.izvestia.ru/special/article3119348/ |script-title=ru:Наши танки шли стальным потоком |author=Yuriy Snegirev |publisher=Izvestia |date=10 August 2008 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813084340/http://www.izvestia.ru/special/article3119348/ |archivedate=13 August 2008 |url-status=dead |access-date=12 March 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mk.ru/social/article/2008/08/12/28210-rossiya-ne-vklyuchay-zadnyuyu.html |script-title=ru:Россия, не включай заднюю… |author=Vadim Rechkalov |publisher=Moskovskij Komsomolets |date=12 August 2008 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321072857/http://www.mk.ru/blogs/MK/2008/08/11/society/365842/ |archivedate=21 March 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=8 October 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.army.lv/?s=2552&id=4388 |script-title=ru:"Мы били по Цхинвалу из "Градов", чтоб его взять..." |publisher=Army.lv |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312052654/http://www.army.lv/?s=2552&id=4388 |archivedate=12 March 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topbot.ru/post87732995/ |script-title=ru:Мы били по Цхинвалу из Градов, чтоб его взять... |publisher=topbot.ru |date=19 October 2008 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311183803/http://www.topbot.ru/post87732995/ |archivedate=11 March 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=12 March 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://osgenocide.ru/gen2008/svidet2008/349-zasseeva-liana-shalvovna.html |script-title=ru:Зассеева Лиана Шалвовна |date=26 September 2008 |publisher=osgenocide.ru |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=201747 |script-title=ru:Посвящение герою |author=Aleksadr Sladkov |publisher=Vesti |date=17 August 2008|language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080818051002/http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=201747 |archivedate=18 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> WikiLeaks later revealed that according to the US Embassy information, "During the night of August 8, four short range ballistic missiles were fired from within Russia toward Tskhinvali."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08TBILISI1341_a.html |title=GEORGIA: SOUTH OSSETIA SITREP 2: GEORGIA CLAIMS TO CONTROL MUCH OF SOUTH OSSETIA, FIGHTING CONTINUES |publisher=WikiLeaks | archive-url=https://archive.today/20140824153842/https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08TBILISI1341_a.html |archive-date=2014-08-24 }}</ref> One Russian journalist had witnessed the launch of missiles from the Russian territory on 8 August 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kgrr.livejournal.com/9413.html |script-title=ru:Фронтовой дневник. Война за кадром. Часть 1. |author=Aleksandr Viktorov |publisher=LiveJournal |date=1 September 2008 |language=ru}}</ref> Russian researcher Andrey Illarionov stated in August 2009 that the Georgian forces used Grad multiple rocket launchers against the Russian units moving on the Zar, Ger and Transcaucasian roads, while Russia used Grads to shell the residential areas of Tskhinvali.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.svoboda.org/a/1794407.html |script-title=ru:Годовщина битвы за Южную Осетию. Агрессоры и жертвы. Дискутируют Александр Шаравин и Андрей Илларионов |author=Mikhail Sokolov |work=Radio Svoboda |date=6 August 2009 |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2009/088/04.html |script-title=ru:«Как готовилась война». Послесловие |publisher=Novaya Gazeta |date=14 August 2009 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818104807/http://www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2009/088/04.html |archivedate=18 August 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

According to one early Georgian official account published on 9 August 2008, the Russian units first crossed the tunnel at 5:30 on 8 August. They advanced to Tskhinvali through Java. The first column of Russian tanks came close to Tskhinvali at 18:44 and began firing on the Georgian troops in the city and nearby heights, while the second column commenced fire on Georgian troops near the Georgian-controlled Dmenisi (7 kilometers north of Tskhinvali).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buntby.com/en/georgia/2008/aug/09/press_reliz_sovbeza_gruzii |title=Press Statement by Georgia Security Council |publisher=Bunt |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101222136/http://www.buntby.com/en/georgia/2008/aug/09/press_reliz_sovbeza_gruzii/ |archivedate=1 January 2010 |url-status=dead |access-date=10 December 2008 }}</ref>

According to Russia, the Security Council of South Ossetia appealed to Russia at around 11:00 on 8 August, requesting aid.{{sfn|Volume III|2009|p=342}} By 15:00 MSK, an urgent session of Security Council of Russia had been convened by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and Russia's options regarding the conflict had been discussed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dmitry Medvedev held an emergency meeting with permanent members of the Security Counsil on the situation in South Ossetia |publisher=The Kremlin |url=http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/events/chronicle/2008/08/205064.shtml |date=8 August 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210041632/http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/events/chronicle/2008/08/205064.shtml |archivedate=10 February 2015}}</ref> Russia accused Georgia of "aggression" against South Ossetia."<ref name=roudik>{{cite web|publisher=Library of Congress |url=http://www.loc.gov/law/help/legal-aspects-of-war/russian-georgia-war.php |title=Russian Federation: Legal Aspects of War in Georgia |author=Peter Roudik}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/08/08/1553_type82912type82913_205032.shtml |title=Statement on the Situation in South Ossetia |publisher=The Kremlin |date=8 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222041207/http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/08/08/1553_type82912type82913_205032.shtml |archive-date=22 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://rusk.ru/st.php?idar=177939 |script-title=ru:Дмитрий Медведев: «Это грубейшее нарушение международного права» |date=8 August 2008 |publisher=Russkaya Liniya |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://rg.ru/2008/08/09/zayavlenie.html |script-title=ru:Мы не допустим безнаказанной гибели наших соотечественников |date=9 August 2008 |publisher=Rossiyskaya Gazeta|language=ru}}</ref> Russia has stated it was defending both peacekeepers and South Ossetian civilians who were Russian citizens.<ref name="bombing"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/Georgia%20S%202008%20545.pdf |title=Letter dated 11 August 2008 from the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council |publisher=United Nations |date=11 August 2008}}</ref><ref name="bbcfaq">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7549736.stm |title=Q&A: Conflict in Georgia |publisher=BBC News |date=11 November 2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Volume III|2009|p=371}} While Russia claimed that it had to conduct peacekeeping operations according to the international mandates, in reality such accords had only arranged the ceasefire observer status; according to political scientist Roy Allison, Russia could evacuate its peacekeepers if attacked.<ref name="Allison">{{cite journal |author=Roy Allison |url=http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/12445_84_6allison.pdf |title=Russia resurgent? Moscow's campaign to 'coerce Georgia to peace' |journal=International Affairs |volume=84 |issue=6 |year=2008 |pages=1145–1171 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129080855/http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/12445_84_6allison.pdf |archivedate=29 January 2011 |url-status=dead |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2346.2008.00762.x}}</ref>

58th Army, the main participant in the conflict, had fought in the Second Chechen War.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2008/08/russian-forces-in-the-georgian-war-preliminary-assessment-and-recommendations |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511175718/http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2008/08/Russian-Forces-in-the-Georgian-War-Preliminary-Assessment-and-Recommendations |url-status=unfit |archive-date=11 May 2010 |title=Russian Forces in the Georgian War: Preliminary Assessment and Recommendations |author1=James Jay Carafano |author2=Ariel Cohen |author3=Lajos F. Szaszdi |publisher=The Heritage Foundation |date=20 August 2008 }}</ref> 76th Guards Air Assault Division and Cossacks also arrived to participate in the fighting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/research/RussiaandEurasia/wm2017.cfm |title=The Russian-Georgian War: A Challenge for the U.S. and the World |author=Ariel Cohen |date=11 August 2008 |publisher=The Heritage Foundation |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813102538/http://www.heritage.org/research/RussiaandEurasia/wm2017.cfm |archivedate=13 August 2008 |url-status=unfit}}</ref>

====Air operations in South Ossetia====

Russian aircraft started flying missions in the early hours of 8 August and the Sukhoi Su-24, Sukhoi Su-25, Sukhoi Su-27 and Sukhoi Su-29 aircraft were used in the war.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=216}} The first Russian air attack was recorded at around 09:30 on 8 August, on the village of Shavshvebi in the Gori District.{{sfn|Volume III|2009|p=107}} The first target was Georgian air defence site.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=216}}<ref name="isdp"/>{{rp|15}} Later that day, the source in the Russian Ministry of Defense told the Russian newspaper ''Kommersant'', "the [Russian] planes attacked only military targets: military base in Gori, airfields in Vaziani and Marneuli as the radar station 40 kilometres from Tbilisi". The officer was asked why Russian warplanes invaded Georgian airspace well before Russian government announced the involvement in the conflict. He responded, "According to order from our command." Georgian authorities stated that they began using aviation only after three Russian Su-24 planes had flown into the Georgian airspace at 11:00. According to ''Kommersant'', Georgian official said that by that time Russian peacekeepers had not participated in the conflict.<ref name="rmd_source_1">{{cite news |first=Olga|last=Allenova|script-title=ru:Первая миротворческая война|url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc-y.aspx?DocsID=1009540|publisher=Kommersant|date=8 August 2008|language=Russian}}</ref> Georgian warplanes and helicopters, which flew a few raids mostly during the morning of 8 August, did not impact the course of the fighting.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=214}} In December 2008, former Secretary of the South Ossetian Security Council Anatoly Barankevich told ''Kommersant'' that Russian aviation bombed Tskhinvali during the battle with the Georgian forces.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1089120 |script-title=ru:«Не место этому президенту в Южной Осетии» |publisher=Kommersant |date=4 December 2008 |language=ru}}</ref>

According to the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), Russia never gained dominance in air in the South Ossetian theatre, as the Russian Air Force took early losses (three Su-25s) to Georgian anti-aircraft fire, and was forced to stop making sorties for two days. Citing eyewitness reports, CAST writes that "... there were no Russian aircraft over Tskhinvali on August 8 or the following day — that is. during the most critical period of the conflict. In effect, the Russian military command was forced to bring motor-rifle units into battle from the march, without first gaining superiority in numbers and firepower."<ref name="cast" /> Russian aviation only recommenced flights on 10 August.<ref name="rapidreaction"/>

During the early stages of the battle, the loss of two Russian aircraft, a Sukhoi Su-25 and a Tupolev Tu-22M, was admitted by Anatoliy Nogovitsyn of the Russian General Staff on August 9. The fate of their pilots was unknown back then. Reuters reported that one Russian pilot was probably taken prisoner. South Ossetia claimed that two Georgian aircraft were shot down by Ossetian soldiers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lenta.ru/news/2008/08/09/planes/ |script-title=ru:Генштаб признал потерю двух самолетов в Южной Осетии |date=9 August 2008 |publisher=Lenta.ru|language=ru}}</ref>

The Russian Air Force conducted around 200 missions during the war; however, the Russian aircraft had to perform missions in the daylight since the aircraft did not possess the technical means to operate during the night unlike the Georgian Air Force. Russian air force could not assist Russian ground forces by destroying the Georgian air defence partly due to lack of training in this role. The Georgian warplanes still posed a threat for the Russians by 11 August due to Russia not achieving air superiority, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.<ref name="rapidreaction"/> Moscow Defense Brief strongly criticised the performance of the Russian Air Force, saying that the Russian ground forces and air force did not coordinate their actions, and that friendly fire was responsible for downing of half of the Russian aircraft lost during the war.<ref name="bbc_mdb">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8142999.stm |title=Russia 'shot down its own planes' |date=9 July 2009 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref>

====Georgian advance is stopped==== Most of Tskhinvali and several villages had been secured by Georgian troops by the afternoon; but the Georgians had been unable to take the northern and some central parts of the city. The military opposition to Georgian advance was increasing.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=209}} South Ossetian General Anatoly Barankevich destroyed a Georgian T-72 tank and its crew at around 2:00 PM, and soon two Georgian T-72 tanks were destroyed by the South Ossetian militants. Russian air attack on the Georgian positions in the westernmost part of Tskhinvali killed more than 20 Georgian troops, causing the Georgian battalion to abandon its positions, dead comrades and most weaponry.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=54}}

At about 15:00, Eduard Kokoity was meeting with the Head of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania Taymuraz Mamsurov in Java. Mamsurov was followed by about one thousand volunteers, and one of the columns had been bombed by the Georgian aviation on the bridge near Java. Java had been transformed into quite-well equipped fortification in the previous months. One Georgian diplomat told ''Kommersant'' on the same day that by taking control of Tskhinvali, Tbilisi wanted to demonstrate that Georgia wouldn't tolerate the killing of Georgian citizens and capturing Java was not their intention.<ref name="rmd_source_1"/>

====Fighting between Georgian and Russian forces==== thumb|Parliament of South Ossetia, after the fighting

At around 16:00 MSK, it became known that two heavy armoured columns of the 58th Army passed the Roki Tunnel and Java and were on the road to Tskhinvali. According to ''Kommersant'', the column had begun moving towards South Ossetia at the same time as President Medvedev was giving a televised speech. According to the official version, they were "aid for peacekeeping forces, who have suffered serious losses". According to ''Kommersant'', the Russian armored hardware had been stationed near the South Ossetian border in Alagirsky District for the past few weeks. At around 17:00 MSK, Russian tank columns surrounded Tskhinvali and began bombing the Georgian positions.<ref name="rmd_source_1"/>

Georgian troops left the centre of the town in the evening. Georgians regrouped in southern Tskhinvali. The 2nd Infantry Brigade arrived from Senaki and replaced the 4th Brigade on the left side.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=210}}{{sfn|Tanks|2010|pp=55-56}} Georgian troops and civilian population began leaving the Georgian villages in the north by 18:00. Georgian forces abandoned Tskhinvali by 22:00 and Russian troops took Khetagurovo.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=56}} According to Moscow Defense Brief, battalions from the 135th, 503rd and 693rd Motorized Rifle Regiments belonging the 19th Motorized Rifle Division of the 58th Army from Vladikavkaz had pushed Georgian forces from parts of Tskhinvali and several Ossetian villages by the end of the day.<ref name="defensebrief" />

Official military casualties, as reported on 8 August, were claimed to be 30 Georgians and 21 Russian soldiers killed.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7551576.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=Day-by-day: Georgia-Russia crisis | date=21 August 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420213426/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7551576.stm | archive-date=20 April 2010 | url-status=live | access-date=20 September 2008 }}</ref> One South Ossetian resident had told the Russian newspaper ''Kommersant'' that although there were rumours that "almost everyone" was evacuated from South Ossetia to Vladikavkaz, there seemed to be some civilians left in Tskhinvali.<ref name="rmd_source_1"/>

At around 4:00 AM on 9 August, a Russian unit managed to arrive at the southern base of the peacekeepers and started to defend it against Georgians until late afternoon.{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=59}} Several battalions of Russian troops brought into the battle were making slow progress through the narrow Roki Tunnel and along the mountain roads. An intense fighting occurred on 9 August in the area of Tskhinvali. Several counterattacks were initiated by the Georgians.<ref name="defensebrief">{{cite journal|last=Barabanov|first=Mikhail|date=12 September 2008|title=The August War between Russia and Georgia|journal=Moscow Defense Brief|publisher=Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies|volume=3|issue=13|url=http://mdb.cast.ru/mdb/3-2008/item3/article1/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915220439/http://mdb.cast.ru/mdb/3-2008/item3/article1/ |archivedate=15 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

====The ambush==== Around 15:00 on 9 August,{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=61}} a Russian advance convoy, led by the 58th Army commander Lieutenant General Anatoly Khrulyov, moved into Tskhinvali from the Roki Tunnel and got ambushed by Georgian special unit near Tskhinvali. Khrulyov was wounded in the leg. A Russian major named Denis Vetchinov created a defense perimeter. he was hit in the head and died en route to hospital. Vetchinov was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation posthumously.<ref name="khrulyov">{{cite web |script-title=ru:Герой |url=http://lenta.ru/articles/2008/08/15/hero/ |publisher=Lenta.ru |date=15 August 2008 |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kp.ru/daily/24143/361351/ |script-title=ru:«А майор, который спас мне жизнь, до госпиталя не доехал...» |date=10 August 2008 |author=Aleksandr Kots |publisher=Komsomolskaya Pravda|language=ru}}</ref>

The remaining Russian units managed to break out of the encirclement carrying out their general and the mortally wounded Vetchinov.<ref name="khrulyov"/> During this battle, Georgian forces had decimated the entire convoy,<ref name="avraam">{{cite web |url=https://www.apn.ru/publications/article20625.htm |script-title=ru:Разгром штабной колонны 58-й армии. Событие и анализ |date=12 August 2008 |author=Avraam Shmulevich |publisher=APN.ru |language=ru}}</ref> and destroyed 25 out of 30 Russian vehicles.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=1069 |title=The Russian Military and the Georgia War: Lessons and Implications |author1=Dr. Ariel Cohen |author2=Colonel Robert E. Hamilton |date=9 June 2011 |publisher=Strategic Studies Institute |pages=28–29 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615225235/http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=1069 |archivedate=15 June 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Khrulyov himself said that day that the battalion no longer existed.<ref name="Khrulyov Kokoity"/> One Russian analyst later speculated that the general's capture could have been a primary goal of the Georgians and his presence in the convoy had been known in advance due to the work of the Georgian intelligence in Russia.<ref name="avraam"/>

====Turning point and Georgian withdrawal====

right|thumb|A building in Tskhinvali on 18 August. thumb|right|A damaged apartment building in Tskhinvali

In the afternoon of 9 August, a Georgian effort to push deeper into Tskhinvali was repulsed with Georgian losses and they withdrew.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=210}}{{sfn|Tanks|2010|pp=61-63}} According to the Georgian Defence Minister, the Georgian military had tried to push into Tskhinvali three times by 9 August. During the last attempt they were met with a serious counterattack, which Georgian officers described as "something like hell."<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/>

By the evening of 9 August, the Georgian interior ministry claimed that Tskhinvali was fully taken by the Georgian troops and that the Georgian troops would march towards Java.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=19001 |title=MIA: Java and Roki Tunnel are Next Targets |publisher=Civil.Ge |date=9 August 2008}}</ref>

The number of Russian forces deployed in South Ossetia exceeded the number of Georgians by 9–10 August.<ref name="isdp"/><ref name="rapidreaction"/>{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=210}} According to ''Moscow Defence Brief'', Georgian troops had pushed the opposition to the northern part of the town by the morning of 10 August. However, Moscow Defense Brief writes: {{Blockquote|... "on this very day the accumulation of Russian forces in the region finally bore fruit, and the fighting in South Ossetia reached a turning point. Toward the evening of August 10, Tskhinvali was completely cleared of Georgian forces, which retreated to the south of the city. Georgian forces were also repelled from the key Prisi heights. The bulk of Georgia’s artillery was defeated. Meanwhile, Ossetian forces, with the support of Russian divisions, took Tamarasheni, Kekhvi, Kurta, and Achabeti on the approach to Tskhinvali from the north. Georgian forces in several of Georgian enclaves were eliminated."<ref name="defensebrief" />}}

Konstantin Makienko writes: {{Blockquote|"The Georgian troops maintained the tactical initiative on the outskirts of Tskhinvali throughout August 9 and even during August 10. What thwarted the Georgian operation in the end was not the Russian Air Force, but the resistance offered by peacekeepers and lightly armed, poorly organized South Ossetian units that stayed behind to defend the capital. [...] Essentially, the Georgian troops failed to take Tskhinvali because they were not prepared psychologically for severe urban fighting."<ref name="cast">{{cite web|url=http://www.cast.ru/eng/comments/?id=328 |title=The Russian Air Force didn't perform well during the conflict in South Ossetia |author=Konstantin Makienko |publisher=Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies |date=15 November 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327235047/http://www.cast.ru/eng/comments/?id=328 |archivedate=27 March 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> }}

A ceasefire was unilaterally announced on 10 August by Georgian authorities, who stated an aim to pull Georgian troops out of South Ossetia. However, Russia did not embrace this truce offer. Most Georgian troops had left South Ossetia by the night of 10–11 August.{{sfn|Volume I|2009|p=21}}{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=67}} Georgian forces started retreating to Gori. According to ''Moscow Defence Brief'', Georgian forces were finally expelled from South Ossetia by the end of 11 August.<ref name="defensebrief"/> The high toll within the Georgian 4th Mechanised Infantry Brigade during the withdrawal was due to Russian air raid.<ref name="rapidreaction"/> In the region of the village of Zemo-Nikozi, Georgian servicemen initially managed to ward off the Russian advance. However, the Russians then succeeded in defeating the Georgians.<ref name="defensebrief"/>{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=70}} An hour-long engagement took place in the village of Shindisi on 11 August between the Georgian convoy of the 2nd Light Infantry Brigade and the Russian forces near the railway station. The Russians had to use tanks and reinforcements against the Georgians. 17 Georgian soldiers were killed during the fight.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://parliament.ge/en/media/axali-ambebi/parlamentshi-mxatvrul-dokumenturi-filmis-shindisis-gmirebis-kinochveneba-gaimarta.page |title=The Documentary Movie "Shindisi Heroes" performed in the Parliament |publisher=Parliament of Georgia |date=23 July 2015 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423064115/http://parliament.ge/en/media/axali-ambebi/parlamentshi-mxatvrul-dokumenturi-filmis-shindisis-gmirebis-kinochveneba-gaimarta.page |archivedate=23 April 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/3435_august_14_2015/3435_6.html |title=7 years passed since Shindisi Battle |publisher=The Messenger Online |date=14 August 2015}}</ref>{{sfn|Tanks|2010|p=71}}

South Ossetian government representative claimed on 11 August that Georgian troops opened the irrigation canal to flood basements in Tskhinvali and prevent civilians from seeking shelter.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://lenta.ru/news/2008/08/11/flood/|script-title=ru:Грузию обвинили в попытке затопить Цхинвали|publisher=Lenta.ru|date=11 August 2008|language=ru}}</ref>

Russian President Medvedev said on 12 August 2008 that he had authorized a cessation of military action in Georgia because "the aggressor has been punished". Medvedev gave an order to Russian forces to fire on "hotbeds of resistance" and other "aggressive actions".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080812/ap_on_re_eu/georgia_russia |title=Russia calls halt to 5-day invasion of Georgia |author1=Christopher Torchia |author2=Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili |publisher=Associated Press |date=12 August 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080815224529/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080812/ap_on_re_eu/georgia_russia |archivedate=15 August 2008 |url-status=dead |access-date=12 March 2024 }}</ref> Associated Press reported that a Russian Army Colonel said there were orders not to advance into Georgia and claimed: "We are staying here."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gfKSNGP_oBDsRC17UgXw34xQBhNwD92H0NE80 |title=Heavy damage in Tskhinvali, mostly at gov't center |author=Douglas Birch |publisher=Associated Press |date=12 August 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819224717/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gfKSNGP_oBDsRC17UgXw34xQBhNwD92H0NE80 |archivedate=19 August 2008 |url-status=dead |access-date=14 August 2008 }}</ref> After the ceasefire agreement was negotiated by French president Nicolas Sarkozy on 12 August, 15:00 on 12 August was set as a deadline for the cessation of military action; however, Russian forces didn't stop pushing forward.{{sfn|Volume II|2009|p=219}} thumb|Map of destruction in the city and suburbs, compiled by a UNOSAT satellite imagery survey; The map shows the territories controlled by Ossetia and Georgia, as well as the posts and the base of the JPKF forces.

==Aftermath and assessments== {{See also|Humanitarian impact of the Russo-Georgian War}}

Russian authorities claimed by August 9 that the civilian casualties in Tskhinvali amounted up to 2,000.<ref>{{cite web |author=Peter Walker |work=The Guardian |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/09/georgia.russia2 |title=Georgia declares 'state of war' over South Ossetia |date=9 August 2008}}</ref> Russia accused Georgia of committing "genocide".<ref name="complete genocide">{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/medvedev-putin-accuse-georgia-of-genocide/article1314526.ece |title=Medvedev, Putin accuse Georgia of genocide |author=Vladimir Radyuhin |work=The Hindu| date=11 August 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208034728/http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/medvedev-putin-accuse-georgia-of-genocide/article1314526.ece |archivedate=8 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> This assertion of genocide was untrue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://georgica.tsu.edu.ge/files/05-Security/Popjanevski-2011.pdf |author=Johanna Popjanevski |title=International Law and the Post-2008 Status Quo in Georgia: Implications for Western Policies |publisher=Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program|year=2011 |page=38 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502120706/http://georgica.tsu.edu.ge/files/05-Security/Popjanevski-2011.pdf |archivedate=2 May 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Although Russia initially used alleged genocide of Ossetians as justification for its military action, later Russian and South Ossetian officials could not validate this assertion and barely mentioned it.{{sfn|Volume I|2009|p=21}} In December 2008, the figures were revised down to a total of 162 South Ossetian casualties by the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.<ref name="The Issue of Civilian Casualties in South Ossetia">{{cite web|url=http://www.hrw.org/en/node/79681/section/15 |work=Up in Flames |publisher=Human Rights Watch |title=2.7 The Issue of Civilian Casualties in South Ossetia |date=23 January 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205015408/http://www.hrw.org/en/node/79681/section/15 |archivedate=5 February 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Russian TV aired infrastructure damage in Tskhinvali.<ref name="bombing">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/world/europe/10georgia.html|title=Georgia and Russia Nearing All-Out War |work=The New York Times | first=Anne | last=Barnard | date=9 August 2008}}</ref> A ''Guardian'' reporter wrote on 13 August that rumors of total destruction of Tskhinvali were overstatements and some Tskhinvali areas were undamaged at all. He had witnessed a massive Russian convoy near the town of Java, which was a "testament to the might of the resurgent Russian state," and several rocket launchers, which "were a sign of Moscow's intent to hold Tskhinvali at all costs."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/aug/13/georgia.russia3 |title='I've never heard anything so monstrous as people shelling a hospital' |author=Tom Parfitt |work=The Guardian |date=13 August 2008}}</ref>

Reporter for REGNUM News Agency reported on 9 August that the Georgian forces, mainly comprised from Mingrelians, were almost completely controlling Tskhinvali on 8 August and had removed South Ossetian flag from the presidential palace.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://regnum.ru/news/1038836 |script-title=ru:В Южной Осетии продолжаются бои: осетинская сторона контролирует Цхинвали, грузины прорываются к Зарской дороге |publisher=Regnum |date=9 August 2008 |language=ru}}</ref>

Several journalists were reported on 11 August 2008 to be among the casualties,<ref name=journalists>{{cite web |url=http://www.kommersant.com/p1010083/South_Ossetia_journalists |title=Journalists Suffered Combat Losses |publisher=Kommersant |date=11 August 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813020839/http://www.kommersant.com/p1010083/South_Ossetia_journalists/ |archivedate=13 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> including the two, who were embedded with the ambushed Russian armoured column, in which General Khrulyov was wounded.<ref name=mk>{{cite web |url=http://mk.ru/blogs/MK/2008/08/10/society/365780 |script-title=ru:Трое суток в эпицентре войны |author=Irina Kuksenkova |publisher=Moskovskij Komsomolets |date=10 August 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205164836/http://mk.ru/blogs/MK/2008/08/10/society/365780 |archivedate=5 December 2008 |language=ru |url-status=dead |access-date=11 August 2008 }}</ref> Russian journalist Irina Kuksenkova reported that she witnessed the corpses of the entire company of the Vostok battalion near Tskhinvali.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://old.memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/caucas1/msg/2008/08/m149128.htm |script-title=ru:Ирина Куксенкова. "Пока еще ничего не закончилось". Наш специальный корреспондент Ирина Куксенкова передает из Цхинвали. |publisher=Memorial |date=11 August 2008 |language=ru}}</ref>

Tanya Lokshina, deputy head of Moscow Bureau of Human Rights Watch, reported from Java on 12 August 2008 that she witnessed a huge number of Russian military hardware being moved into South Ossetia and deployed to Georgia, adding that her colleague had never witnessed such concentration of military hardware during the Chechen wars. Lokshina said that almost all male population of South Ossetia were members of militia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.svoboda.org/a/460353.html |script-title=ru:Представители Human Rights Watch добрались до города Джава |work=Radio Svoboda |date=12 August 2008 |language=ru}}</ref>

According to a doctor at Tskhinvali hospital interviewed by the Human Rights Watch on 12 August 2008, the hospital handled 273 injured (predominantly military) from 6 to 12 August, and received forty-four bodies (the majority of Ossetians killed in Tskhinvali). One doctor told Human Rights Watch that the artillery attack forced the relocation of all the wounded to the basement.<ref name="hrw.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/08/12/russiageorgia-investigate-civilian-deaths |title=Russia/Georgia: Investigate Civilian Deaths |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=12 August 2008}}</ref>

Russian military journalist Arkady Babchenko reported on 13 August 2008 that all armed volunteers were granted passage into South Ossetia without questioning by Russian border guards on 10 August 2008. Babchenko suggested that there were rumors in Tskhinvali that the Russian authorities were lowering the number of the killed Russian peacekeepers and the actual Russian losses could be up to 200 peacekeepers. He witnessed dogs eating the dead Georgian soldiers in Tskhinvali. He stated that the killed civilians definitely did not number in the thousands.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/59/00.html |script-title=ru:Грузия-200 |author=Arkady Babchenko |publisher=Novaya Gazeta |date=13 August 2008 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080815002335/https://novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/59/00.html |archivedate=15 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Government of South Ossetia resumed operation in Tskhinvali on 13 August 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.interfax.ru/russia/26903 |script-title=ru:Правительство Южной Осетии начало работу по восстановлению Цхинвали |publisher=Interfax |date=13 August 2008 |language=ru}}</ref> Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Emergency Situations of Russia, announced that Radio and TV stations would begin broadcasting in Tskhinvali on 14 August and newspapers would be published.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.interfax.ru/russia/27082 |script-title=ru:В Цхинвали заработает радио, будут выходить газеты |publisher=Interfax |date=14 August 2008 |language=ru}}</ref>

Ukrainian journalist Ruslan Yarmolyuk working for Inter TV channel described the days spent during the war in Tskhinvali on 14 August 2008. He stated that after Georgian tanks entered Tskhinvali on 8 August, Russian jets began bombing the Georgian positions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.telekritika.ua/media-suspilstvo/view/2008-08-13/40007 |script-title=ru:Записки из Цхинвали |author=Ruslan Yarmolyuk |publisher=Telekritika |date=14 August 2008 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080815141433/http://www.telekritika.ua/media-suspilstvo/view/2008-08-13/40007 |archivedate=15 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Russian journalists reported to have witnessed Eduard Kokoity's return from Java to Tskhinvali on 9 August 2008.<ref name="Khrulyov Kokoity">{{cite web |url=http://www.mk.ru/28087/28087.html |script-title=ru:12 часов до смерти (ФОТО, ВИДЕО) |author=Viktor Sokirko |publisher=MK.RU |date=12 August 2008 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090811095155/http://www.mk.ru/28087/28087.html |archivedate=11 August 2009 |quote=Нет больше батальона, — кричал, сидя на земле и стуча по ней кулаком, начштаба.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://artofwar.ru/w/wiktorow_a_w/text_0010.shtml |script-title=ru:Фронтовой дневник. Война за кадром. |author=Aleksandr Viktorov |publisher=Art of War |date=1 September 2008 |language=ru}}</ref>

Political commentator of Forum.msk agency stated on 15 August 2008 that 38 dead fighters of the Vostok Battalion were sent to Chechnya on 11 August and 35-40 dead fighters of the Zapad Battalion were buried in Chechnya.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://forum-msk.org/material/lenty/515805.html |script-title=ru:Скандал. Количество жертв среди населения Цхинвали может быть преувеличено в несколько десятков раз |publisher=Forum.msk |date=15 August 2008 |language=ru}}</ref>

Pro-Russian president of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity announced that he would appeal to Russia to establish Russian military base in South Ossetia. ''Nezavisimaya Gazeta'' reported on 19 August 2008 that two military townlets had already been built near Java and Tskhinvali; however, the military townlet near Tskhinvali had suffered damage during the war as it was one of the main targets of the Georgian artillery and BM-21 Grads. Head of the South Ossetian information committee Irina Gagloeva said that the South Ossetian public opinion was now ready to accept the Russian military bases.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ng.ru/politics/2008-08-19/1_baza.html?mthree=1 |script-title=ru:Военно-непризнанная база |author=Marina Perevozkina |publisher=Nezavisimaya Gazeta |date=19 August 2008 |language=ru}}</ref>

Russian journalist Dmitry Belyakov wrote on 21 August 2008 that some politicians were exaggerating the scale of the damage to Tskhinvali. He wrote that all administrative buildings, the police department, the mayor's office, the parliament were burned down after the battle. He witnessed that the Ossetians were not paying attention to the Georgian corpses rotting in the hot sun.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rusrep.ru/2008/31/made_in_usa_zhri/1/ |script-title=ru:«Made in USA! Жри!» |author=Dmitry Belyakov |publisher=Rusrep |date=21 August 2008 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913175701/http://www.rusrep.ru/2008/31/made_in_usa_zhri/1/ |archivedate=13 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In late August 2008, Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili accused the Russian forces of being responsible for 80% of the destruction of Tskhinvali.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newsru.com/world/27aug2008/saakash.html |script-title=ru:Саакашвили признал, что не ожидал такого размаха войны в ЮО, сильно нервничал, но не боялся |publisher=NEWSru.com |date=27 August 2008 |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bild.de/news/bild-english/on-the-conflict-with-russia-5614630.bild.html |title="Russia will try this again in the future" |publisher=Bild |date=27 August 2008}}</ref>

Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Luc Van den Brande visited South Ossetia on 25 September 2008 and said that there had been no genocide in Tskhinvali.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://korrespondent.net/world/596429-genocida-v-yuzhnoj-osetii-ne-bylo-delegaciya-pase |script-title=ru:Геноцида в Южной Осетии не было – делегация ПАСЕ |publisher=Korrespondent.net |date=25 September 2008|language=ru}}</ref>

South Ossetian president Eduard Kokoity said in an interview in December 2008 that as soon as Tskhinvali was attacked on 8 August 2008, he established a contact with the Chief of the General Staff of Russia and Commander of the North Caucasus Military District. He said that the first Russian BMP-1 convoy arrived in Java at 8:00 in the morning of 8 August 2008. Kokoity also сlaimed that the Georgian forces did not manage to remove any Ossetian flag in the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rg.ru/2008/12/04/kokoity.html |script-title=ru:Эдуард Кокойты: Наживаться на горе народа Южной Осетии не дадим никому |publisher=Rossiyskaya Gazeta |date=4 December 2008 |language=ru}}</ref>

Russian journalist Yulia Latynina noted that when the Georgian forces entered Tskhinvali on 8 August 2008, nothing was destroyed in Tskhinvali; Tskhinvali was ruined after the city was taken by the Russian army in 3 days. She asked who bombed Tskhinvali when it was controlled by the Georgians and noted that 2 attempts to repel the Georgians from Tskhinvali by armored attack failed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gazeta.ru/column/latynina/2853341.shtml |script-title=ru:Вопросы войны |author=Yulia Latynina |publisher=gazeta.ru |date=10 October 2008 |language=ru}}</ref> Latynina also asked what the Russian bomber jet was doing above Tskhinvali that was shot down by the Ossetians. She answered her own question that the Russian bomber was attacking Tskhinvali because the Russian TV had already accused Georgia of destroying Tskhinvali on 7 August 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ej.ru/?a=note&id=9265 |script-title=ru:ЛИК БОГОРОДИЦЫ И MOSCOW DEFENCE BRIEF |author=Yulia Latynina |publisher=Ezhednevny Zhurnal |date=10 July 2009 |language=ru}}</ref>

In January 2009, Human Rights Watch issued the report which stated that Georgian forces used Grad multiple rocket launchers, self-propelled artillery, mortars and howitzers against South Ossetian targets during the initial phase of the conflict. The South Ossetian parliament and several schools and nurseries were used as military posts by South Ossetian troops and volunteer militias and targeted by Georgian artillery fire. Georgia stated that its strikes only intended to "neutralize firing positions from where Georgian positions were being targeted". HRW documented witness accounts of the usage of civilian objects by South Ossetian fighters. Such usage made civilian objects permissible military aims, and HRW concluded that South Ossetian fighters put non-combatant population at risk by setting up military positions near or in civilian structures. Georgia was responsible for the indiscriminate use of force by using inaccurate weapons to target military targets in civilian areas. HRW noted that many civilians had left Tskhinvali before 7 August 2008.<ref>{{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>

In August 2009, Russian journalist Yuriy Snegirev, traveling from the Roki Tunnel to Tskhinvali, saw the building of the Peacemakers in Tskhinvali, and the gate now bore the emblem of the Federal Security Service and the Border Service.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://izvestia.ru/special/article3131568/?print |script-title=ru:Цхинвал год бомбили деньгами. Следов пока не видно |date=6 August 2009 |author=Yuriy Snegirev |publisher=Izvestia |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029035729/http://izvestia.ru/special/article3131568/?print |archivedate=29 October 2010 |language=ru |url-status=dead |access-date=12 March 2024 }}</ref>

On 8 August 2009, a monument dedicated to Alexey Ivanov, Russian soldier killed in the battle in August 2008, was inaugurated in Tskhinvali.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vz.ru/news/2009/8/8/315696.html |script-title=ru:Памятник погибшему солдату 58-й армии установлен в Южной Осетии |publisher=Vzglyad |date=8 August 2009 |language=ru}}</ref>

President of North Ossetia Taymuraz Mamsurov claimed on 8 August 2008 that the Georgians had bombed a peaceful humanitarian convoy. Reporter for State TV channel Zvezda Algis Mikulskis later reported that he was moving from Tskhinvali to Java during the night of 8 August and he encountered column of Russian armored vehicles near Java at around 3–4 hours in the morning and the column was bombed by Georgian planes. Russian journalist Yulia Latynina suggested that this column had started moving towards Tskhinvali a lot earlier than the official Russian order for attacking Georgia was issued and noted that no photo of the bombed humanitarian convoy existed. Latynina also questioned the Russian claim that the Georgians had indiscriminately shelled Tskhinvali with BM-21 Grad Multiple rocket launchers and noted that reporter of ''Izvestia'' Yuri Snegirev was observing the Georgian artillery fire from the roof of the Tskhinvali hotel on the night of 8 August 2008 and then slept in his room, which would have been impossible if the Georgians had indiscriminately attacked the civilian areas in Tskhinvali on 8 August. Latynina also questioned the Russian claim that the Georgians had deliberately attacked the Russian peacekeepers and quoted South Ossetian official Inal Pliev as recalling that Georgian tanks passed by the Russian peacekeeping base where Pliev was hiding.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.echo.msk.ru/programs/code/801942-echo/ |script-title=ru:КОД ДОСТУПА |publisher=Echo of Moscow |date=13 August 2011 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924050159/http://www.echo.msk.ru/programs/code/801942-echo/ |archivedate=24 September 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading== {{refbegin}} *{{cite web |url=http://www.ksk.edu.ee/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ENDC_Occasional_Papers_4_final.pdf |title=The Russian-Georgian War Of 2008: Causes And Implication |last=Laaneots |first=Ants |publisher=Estonian National Defence College |date=April 2016 }} *{{cite web |url=http://www.ceiig.ch/pdf/IIFFMCG_Volume_I.pdf |title=Report. Volume I |date=September 2009 |publisher=IIFFMCG |ref={{sfnref|Volume I|2009}} |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007030130/http://www.ceiig.ch/pdf/IIFFMCG_Volume_I.pdf |archivedate=7 October 2009 }} *{{cite web |url=http://www.ceiig.ch/pdf/IIFFMCG_Volume_II.pdf |title=Report. Volume II |date=September 2009 |publisher=IIFFMCG |ref={{sfnref|Volume II|2009}} |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706223037/http://www.ceiig.ch/pdf/IIFFMCG_Volume_II.pdf |archivedate=6 July 2011 }} *{{cite web |url=http://www.ceiig.ch/pdf/IIFFMCG_Volume_III.pdf |title=Report. Volume III |date=September 2009 |publisher=IIFFMCG |ref={{sfnref|Volume III|2009}} |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706223252/http://www.ceiig.ch/pdf/IIFFMCG_Volume_III.pdf |archivedate=6 July 2011 }} *{{cite web |url=http://www.cast.ru/files/The_Tanks_of_August_sm_eng.pdf |title=The Tanks of August |publisher=Russkiy Mir Foundation/CAST |year=2010 |ref={{sfnref|Tanks|2010}} |access-date=22 March 2014 |archive-date=28 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128165000/http://www.cast.ru/files/The_Tanks_of_August_sm_eng.pdf |url-status=dead }} {{refend}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Battle of Tskhinvali}} *[http://hrw.org/photos/2008/georgia_galleries/ Pictures] from Human Rights Watch *{{In lang|ru}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080814211939/http://www.apn.ru/publications/comments20625.htm Defeat of the staff column of the 58th Army. Event and analysis], Avraam Shmulevich {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tskhinvali}} Category:Russo-Georgian War Category:Conflicts in 2008 Category:Battles involving Georgia (country) Category:Battles involving Russia Category:Battles in 2008 Category:Urban warfare Category:Tskhinvali Category:Operations involving special forces of Georgia (country) Category:August 2008 in Asia Category:August 2008 in Europe