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Georgia Launched War on South Ossetia
Georgia has declared war against South Ossetia. Its troops are assaulting Tskhinvali, the capital of unrecognized republic. Backed by tanks, the infantrymen are advancing in all directions and the warplanes of Georgian Air Force are circling above the city. The assault started at 11:45 p.m. MSK by fire of heavy artillery.
Fifteen residents have been killed in Tskhinvali already, the number of wounded is yet unknown, but judging by the scale and intensity of the attack, the list will be long for sure. Some 30,000 civilians live in Tskhinvali, and 90 percent of them are the citizens of Russia.
South Ossetia opposes the enemy on the outskirts of Tskhinvali, while Georgia is amassing armored vehicles, artillery, tanks and soldiers there.
Tskhinvali is not the sole place of Georgia’s attack. Tkverneti village was bombed by five Su-25s of Georgian Air Force.
Georgia officially announced that it launched the operation “to restore constitutional order” in Tskhinvali region. General Mamuka Kurashvili, the commander of Georgian peacekeepers in South Ossetia, made the respective statement on Rustavi 2 TV Channel, warning Russia’s peacekeepers not to step in.
Moscow has urged the world community to avert massive bloodshed and called an extraordinary sitting of U.N. Security Council. The members will meet Friday, August 8, to discuss the crisis, which has progressed into a war already.
Of interest is that Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili announced a unilateral truce Thursday, specifying that Tbilisi is for the diplomatic settlement of conflict that aggravated through fault of South Ossetia. Georgia attacked Tskhinvali in a few hours after that statement.
www.kommersant.com
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Photo: Andrey Stenin
