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2008 South Ossetia war facts for kids

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2008 South Ossetia war
Part of Georgian–Ossetian conflict
and Georgian–Abkhazian conflict
2008 South Ossetia war en.svg
Location of Georgia (including Abkhazia and South Ossetia) and the Russian part of North Caucasus
Date 7 August 2008 – 16 August 2008
Location
Result
  • Russian/South Ossetian/Abkhazian victory
  • Recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent republics by Nicaragua and the Russian Federation.
  • Expulsion of most ethnic Georgians from former South Ossetia AO and from the Kodori Gorge.
Territorial
changes
Georgia loses control over parts of Abkhazia (25%) and former South Ossetia AO (40%) it previously held.
Belligerents
Georgia (country) Georgia Russia Russia
South Ossetia South Ossetia
Abkhazia Abkhazia
Commanders and leaders
Georgia (country) Mikheil Saakashvili (commander-in-chief)
Georgia (country) Lado Gurgenidze (Prime minister)
Georgia (country) Davit Kezerashvili (Defence Minister)
Georgia (country) Alexandre Lomaia (National Security Council)
Georgia (country) Zaza Gogava (Chief of Joint Staff)
Georgia (country) David Nairashvili (Air Force commander)
Georgia (country) Mamuka Kurashvili (Peacekeepers)
Georgia (country) Vano Merabishvili (Minister of Internal Affairs)

Russia Dmitry Medvedev (commander-in-chief)
Russia Anatoliy Serdyukov (Defence Minister)
Russia Vladimir Boldyrev
(Ground Forces)
Russia Anatoly Khrulyov (58th Army) (WIA)
Russia Vyacheslav Borisov (76th Airborne)
Russia Marat Kulakhmetov (Peacekeepers)
Russia Sulim Yamadayev (Vostok Battalion)
Russia Vladimir Shamanov (in Abkhazia)


South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity (commander-in-chief)
South Ossetia Vasiliy Lunev (Ministry of Defence)
South Ossetia Anatoly Barankevich (Ministry of Defence and Emergencies)
Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh (commander-in-chief)
Abkhazia Anatoly Zaitsev (Ministry of Defence)
Strength

Georgia (country) In South Ossetia: 10,000–12,000 soldiers. Total: 18,000 soldiers, 10,000 reservists.
2,000 soldiers in Iraq at that time, returned short for the end of the conflict

810 Special Police Forces officers.
Russia In South Ossetia:
10,000 soldiers.
In Abkhazia:
9,000 soldiers.
South Ossetia 2,900 regular soldiers.
Abkhazia 5,000 regular soldiers.
Casualties and losses

Georgia (country) Georgia:
Military
162 killed, 947 wounded, 8 missing, 42 captured

Police
11 killed, 3 missing, 227 wounded

Russia Russia:
64 killed, 283 wounded, 3 missing, 12 captured
South Ossetia South Ossetia:
150 killed (including volunteers), unknown number of wounded, 41 captured
Abkhazia Abkhazia:

1 killed, 2 wounded

Civilian casualties:
South Ossetia: 162 according to Russia, 365 civilians and military according to South Ossetia
Georgia: 224 civilians killed and 15 missing
One foreign civilian killed and 3 wounded


Refugees:
At least 158,000 civilians displaced (including 30,000 South Ossetians that moved to North Ossetia, Russia; and 56,000 Georgians from Gori, Georgia and 15,000 Georgians from South Ossetia per UNHCR that moved to uncontested Georgia). Estimate by Georgian Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs: at least 230,000.

The 2008 South Ossetia war is a military conflict that started on 8 August 2008, between Georgia, South Ossetian (and Abkhazian) secessionists and Russia.

South Ossetia and Abkhazia are territories within Georgia that declared independence from Georgia and have been acting in a de facto independent capacity since the early 1990s. Neither state has been diplomatically recognised by any member of the United Nations. The conflict began on August 8, 2008, after Georgia claimed South Ossetian separatists had broken a ceasefire by attacking villages, although South Ossetian officials deny that they attacked villages. Georgia launched a military offensive to surround and capture the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali.

Russian military troops entered the war at the side of South Ossetia and won the conflict. Georgia launched the Georgia versus Russia (Hague court application, 2008) in the International Court of Justice.

The war ended on Saturday August 16th, 2008.

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