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Battle of Tskhinvali
Part of 2008 South Ossetia war
Movements of opposing forces around Tskhinvali. Blue arrows show Georgian movements, red show Russian.
Date August 8 - August 10, 2008 Location Tskhinval, South Ossetia (Georgia) Result Russian-Ossetian victory, Georgian withdrawal
Belligerents
Republic of South Ossetia Russian Federation	Georgia
Commanders and leaders
Unknown Anatoly Khrulyov of the 58th Army (WIA) Marat Kulakhmetov of the former peacekeeping forces	Unknown
Strength
Unknown 1,700 troops formerly serving as peacekeepers and several thousand troops from Russia	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown 18 killed, 7 missing and 150 wounded (Russian claim)	180 killed (Georgian claim)
Possibly about 2,000 Ossetian and 15 Georgian civilians killed (Russian claim)

The Battle of Tskhinvali was a battle for the city of Tskhinvali, the capital of the Georgia's breakway province of South Ossetia, that was being fought for over three days in August 2008, as the main engagement in the 2008 South Ossetia War. Tskhinvali been devastated in the fighting.

The battle

Overview

The cities of Tskhinvali and Gori are located in the valley of the Greater Liakhvi River, within about 20 miles (32 km) from each other. The Georgian military was based at Gori, while Tskhinvali was the primary objective of the Georgian forces. It has been suggested that the ultimate goal of the Georgian forces was to control the Roki Tunnel, which is the sole major land route from Russia to South Ossetia.

Details

The Georgian Army entered the province of South Ossetia during the early hours of August 8, 2008 after a prolonged artillery onslaught on the city of Tskhinvali. By 04:45am Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temuri Yakobashvili announced that Tskhinvali was nearly surrounded by the Georgian forces. After hours of artillery bombardment Georgian mechanized forces moved into the city and were heading toward the city center, where they were met with fierce resistance from South Ossetian separatist rebels. The Georgian forces kept advancing despite strong opposition from the South Ossetian defenders. Georgian snipers were the most lethal on the battlefield killing anything that moved according to the civilians. The rebel presidential palace in the city was burning as intense hand-to-hand fighting broke out across the town. Apartment blocks were devastated as the remains of Georgian tanks struck by RPG's were burning in the middle of the streets. The Georgian army needed only a few hours to take the city and by the end of the day it had.

The legacy of the night attack was initially assessed as about 1,600 civilians killed according to the South Ossetian sources, and about 100 civilians killed according to the Georgian sources.

However, despite the Georgian claim that Tskhinvali was captured and Georgia now controlled two-thirds of South Ossetia's territory reports were coming out of the city that fighting was still continuing and there were still some pockets of South Ossetian resistance. Television footage that came out of the city showed four Georgian tanks were on fire at the railroad station square with a few dead Georgian soldiers beside them on the ground.

At this time the Russian Ministry of Defence reported that the Georgians had killed at least 10 Russian soldiers and wounded 30 in the first shelling of the peacekeepers base at the city, later that number was revised to 13 killed and 70 wounded.

During the afternoon of August 8, Russian ground forces, with air support, crossed the international border into South Ossetia from the Russian republic of North Ossetia-Alania and reached Tskhinvali several hours later. Two armored tank battalions of the 58th Army were moving toward Tskhinvali. Both sides (Russia and Georgia) used armoured vehicles and artillery during the fight for the city. On August 9, the Russian 58th Army commander Anatoly Khrulyov was wounded in a Georgian ambush which reportedly inflicted heavy losses on the Russian forces.

After the Russians drove the Georgians out of the outskirts of Tskhinvali, the Georgian units regrouped with armored reinforcements from Gori. On the later half of August 9, the regrouped Georgian forces launched a new offensive against South Ossetian and Russian defenders of Tskhinvali using heavy artillery (howitzers), GRAD rocket launchers, and large-caliber mortars. Heavy fighting was underway on the city outskirts, as at least three Georgian tanks were reported hit. Just before midnight a five-hour artillery onslaught on the city ended. The OSInform News Agency claimed a major Georgian attack had been stopped, reporting 12 Georgian tanks destroyed and 1 Georgian bomber shot down. The fighting with the Georgian infantry on the south of Tshinvali continued. Civilians still remained in the basements with no food or water. The South Ossetian forces complained that Georgia has yet not provided a peace corridor to evacuate the civilians caught up in crossfire.

By August 10, the joint Russian and South Ossetian forces regained control over the city center as the Georgian forces withdrew as Russia had demanded. However, according to the Russians some Georgian snipers and mobile infantry groups still remained in Tskhinvali.

While there was no ground fighting in Gori, the launch point of the Georgian military, the city was attacked from the air and large areas associated with or nearby the Georgian military were heavily damaged.

Tskhinvali Destroyed

Many sources confirmed the capital of South Ossetia had been over 70% completely devastated by the Georgian artillery fire by the night of August 8, the day of the Olympics Opening Ceremony in China. The heavy artillery barrage on the suburban area began at 23.30, August 7.

Casualties

According to a Russian officials' estimate, around 1,500-2,000 civilians have died (the pre-war population being around 30,000). A South Ossetian official claimed that "foreign mercenaries" were found among the dead Georgian soldiers (that information has not been confirmed by Georgia), some described as being black. Several journalists were reported to be among the casualties, including the two who were embedded with the ambushed Russian armoured column in which general Khrulyov was wounded.

References

1. Georgia pulls out of Tskhinvali, Al Jazeera, August 10, 2008
2. ^ Journalists Suffered Combat Losses, Kommersant, Aug. 11, 2008
3. ^ Template:Ru icon Трое суток в эпицентре войны, Moskovskiy Komsomolets, 10.08.2008
4. Template:Ru icon Посол России в Грузии заявил о двух тысячах погибших жителях Цхинвали, Lenta.Ru, 09.08.2008
5. http://www.effedieffe.com/content/view/4120/183/
6. http://lenta.ru/news/2008/08/09/dead1/
7. MIA: Java and Roki Tunnel are Next Targets, Civil.Ge, 9 Aug.'08
8. Georgian MLRS launched rockets on Tskhinvali - BBC video
9. Tskhinvali almost surrounded - Georgian official Itar-Tass. 8 August 2008.
10. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4493620.ece
11. CNN news
12. http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12933348&PageNum=0
13. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Tskhinvali - Kokoity
14. Lenta.ru Template:Ru icon
15. Lenta.Ru: Russian tanks entered Tskhinvali (in Russian)
16. Russian tanks 'rolling into Georgian breakaway'
17. http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=95975 Georgia Army Launches New Offensive on South Ossetia Capital Tskhinvali, 9 August 2008, Saturday
18. Georgian troops pull out of South Ossetian capital
19. Georgia 'calls Ossetia ceasefire', BBC News, 10 August 2008
20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7550804.stm
21. Bodies are lying everywhere. It’s hell
22. 2,000 civilians dead in Tskhinvali fighting-Ifax, Reuters, 09 Aug 2008
23. Dead Mercenaries Found in Tskhinvali, Kommersant, Aug. 10, 2008

External links

• Bodies are lying everywhere. It’s hell, The Sunday Times, August 10, 2008

Videos

• Russian convoy moving towards Tskhinvali, 06:20
• Destruction in Tskhinvali, 01:36
• Casualties in Tskhinvali, 05:17
• Damaged hospital building in Tskhinvali, 02:17

• 2008 in Georgia (country)
• Battles of the Modern era
• Battles involving Georgia (country)
• Battles involving Russia