Russian troops attack South Ossetia
on 08 Aug 2008
| 2
[video:youtube:E4AD6mOZm9I]
Russian troops
head in the direction of Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia's separatist South Ossetia region. This follows "a massive attack" by Georgian troops to regain control of breakaway region where officials said at least 15 people were killed and an unspecified number of people wounded.
A convoy of Russian tanks and troops is reportedly moving toward South Ossetia's capital as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declared that the war has started. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "War started today in South Ossetia when Georgia attacked Russian peacekeepers in the disputed region." link
The Daily Telegraph quotes Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, as saying
"ethnic cleansing" had been reported in villages in South Ossetia amid a Georgian offensive to retake the breakaway region. link
The Belfast Telegraph runs some images as does
the BBC. The BBC also has
background to the conlict. The
Video above is from AP. Onnik Krikorian at
Global Voices quotes bloggers on the ground and plans on running updates.
UPDATE: updates begin here and will probably
follow here.
The latest from
Reuters,
Russian armoured vehicles have entered the Northern edges of the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, the separatists' press service reported on its website cominf.org on Friday. "Russian armoured vehicles have entered the northern suburbs of Tskhinvali," the website reported. "According to eyewitnesses ... Georgian troops have started to retreat from the positions they occupied," the website said. link
UPDATE: 23:18 Paris time
Can't help but agree with this comment from Matt_Wells on the
BBC Editors blog in response to Editor Kathy Searle's remark that the South Ossetia story is
"Not a natural story for the Six",
South Ossetia "not a natural story for the Six"? Are you kidding? Hundreds of civilians killed and a superpower about to engage in war? On every other UK news outlet, from guardian.co.uk to Sky News, this is the lead story! Only the BBC, which presumably has to justify the oodles of cash it has splurged on the Olympics and the vast overstaffing in Beijing, would think that some contemporary interpretive dance deserves higher billing! link
Meanwhile, Georgia says
Russia bombed its air bases,
"I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings, in cars," said Lyudmila Ostayeva, 50, who fled with her family to Dzhava, a village near the border with Russia. "It's impossible to count them now. There is hardly a single building left undamaged." link
Comparison:
1. Serbia
1. Georgia
2. Kosovo
2. South Ossetia
3. Etnicity in Kosovo: Albanians
3. Etnicity in S. Ossetia: Russians
4. In 1999 Serbia (Miloshevikj) attacked Kosovo
4. In 2008 Georgia attacked S. Ossetia
5. In 1999 NATO bombarded Serbia (and Kosovo) to protect albanian people.
5. In 2008 Russia bombarded Georgia (and S. Ossetia) to protect russion people.
6. In 2001 Miloshevikj was sent to the court in Hague.
6. In 2010 Saakashvili will be sent to the court in Hague.