Timeline South Ossetia
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The capital of South
Ossetia is Tskhinvali.
(Econ, 8/21/04, p.41)
1395
Tamerlane, a Turkic conqueror, swept into Southern
Russia and Georgia driving locals into the hills.
(WSJ, 8/27/08, p.A12)
1801 South Ossetia was absorbed
into the Russian Empire along with Georgia.
(WSJ, 8/27/08, p.A12)
1918 South Ossetians made a bid to
break away from Georgia and thousands fled in the ensuing violence.
Menshevik Georgia waged a brutal war to absorb Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. In 1921 the Red Army regained control and absorbed all three
into the Soviet Union.
(WSJ, 8/27/08, p.A12)(Econ, 10/23/10, p.102)
1922 South Ossetia became an
autonomous region within the Soviet Republic of Georgia.
(WSJ, 8/27/08, p.A12)
1989-1992 South Ossetia defended itself from Georgia
with aid from Russia and about 1,000 people died in the fighting. Some
25-40,000 people fled the area.
(SFC, 9/1/98, p.A10)
1990 Aug, South Ossetia, a region
of north central Georgia with a population of about 100,000, declared
itself sovereign. Ethnic Ossetians speak a language similar to Persian.
Georgia abolished South Ossetia’s autonomous status following the
attempted break. Georgian leader Zviad Gamsakhurdia declared South
Ossetia part of Georgia and marched on Tskhinvali, the declared capital.
(SFC, 9/1/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 8/27/08, p.A12)
1992 Jul, Russia brokered a cease
fire between South Ossetia and Georgia.
(SFC, 9/1/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 8/27/08, p.A12)
2001 Dec 18, Eduard Kokoity
(b.1964), former champion of the Soviet Union national wrestling team,
assumed office as president of South Ossetia. He had won 45% of the
votes in the first round of elections on November 18 and 53% in the 2nd
round on December 6.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Kokoity)
2002 Russia changed its
citizenship law to allow massive distribution of passports to people in
the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions of Georgia.
(Econ, 10/3/09, p.65)
2004 Aug 15, Sporadic gunfire and
shelling took place overnight in the disputed Georgian region of South
Ossetia in violation of a fragile ceasefire, wounding seven Georgian
servicemen.
(AFP, 8/15/04)
2004 Aug 17, Georgian President
Mikhail Saakashvili appealed to world leaders to convene an
international conference on the conflict in breakaway South Ossetia,
where daily exchanges of gunfire threaten to spark a war. The province
operated as a conduit for smuggling between Georgia and Russia.
(AP, 8/17/04)(Econ, 8/21/04, p.40)
2004 Aug 18, In South Ossetia 3
Georgian peacekeepers were killed in overnight shooting.
(AP, 8/18/04)
2006 Sep 11, Leaders of the
breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia said they would hold a
referendum on independence in November, a move likely to infuriate the
government in Tbilisi and stoke already spiraling tensions.
(AP, 9/11/06)
2006 Nov 12, Voters in the
breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia declared overwhelming
backing for its independence drive in a referendum that underlined a
sharp split between Russia and the West and is likely to increase
tensions in the Caucasus region. A similar 1992 referendum proclaiming
the province's independence went unnoticed by the international
community, leaving it in limbo.
(AP, 11/12/06)(AP, 11/13/06)
2007 May 11, Authorities in
Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia launched a blockade of all
ethnic Georgian villages in the province and demanded that the central
government withdraw its police troops from the settlements.
(AP, 5/11/07)
2007 Jun 28, Hundreds of ethnic
Georgians confronted Russian peacekeeping forces in the breakaway
region of South Ossetia, throwing paint and gasoline on the troops and
forcing them to stop blocking a road project.
(AP, 6/28/07)
2008 Mar 5, South Ossetia appealed
for international recognition as an independent nation, further adding
to simmering tensions in Georgia and throughout the strategic South
Caucasus region.
(AP, 3/6/08)
2008 Apr 29, Russia announced it
was beefing up its peacekeeping force in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia
and South Ossetia regions, saying it had evidence Tbilisi was readying
its forces for an attack.
(Reuters, 4/29/08)
2008 Jul 29, Russian proxies in
South Ossetia started shelling pro-Georgian villages there.
(Econ, 1/23/10, p.78)
2008 Aug 2, Overnight fighting
that included sniper and mortar fire between Georgian forces and
separatists in the breakaway South Ossetia region left six people dead
and 13 wounded.
(AP, 8/2/08)
2008 Aug 3, The breakaway republic
of South Ossetia began sending hundreds of children across the border
to its Russian ally amid increasing violence between the republic and
Georgian government forces.
(AP, 8/3/08)
2008 Aug 7, Heavy shelling
overnight in the Georgian breakaway province of South Ossetia wounded
at least 21 people. Cyber attacks from Russia began to target Georgian
government Web sites. An organization known as the Russian Business
Network was the leading suspect in the attacks. Georgia’s Pres.
Saakashvili ordered the shelling of Tskhinvali, the capital of South
Ossetia.
(AP, 8/7/08)(WSJ, 8/12/08, p.A9)(Econ, 8/30/08, p.49)
2008 Aug 8, Georgian troops
launched a major military offensive to regain control of South Ossetia,
prompting a furious response from Russia, which sent tanks into the
region. The convoy was expected to reach the provincial capital by
evening. Georgia said it shot down two Russian combat planes.
Separatist officials in South Ossetia said 15 civilians had been killed
in fighting overnight. Georgia later acknowledged that it used M85
cluster munition near the Roki tunnel that connects South Ossetia with
Russia, while Russia denied use of cluster bombs.
(AP, 8/8/08)(AP, 9/1/08)
2008 Aug 9, Georgia, the third
largest contributor to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, said it's
pulling out its 2,000-strong contingent from Iraq to join the fighting
in the breakaway province of South Ossetia.
(AP, 8/9/08)
2008 Aug 9, Russia sent hundreds
of tanks and troops into the separatist province of South Ossetia and
bombed Georgian towns in a major escalation of the conflict that has
left scores of civilians dead and wounded. Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Moscow that some 1,500 people have been
killed, with the death toll rising. The death toll in South Ossetia was
later put at fewer than 200. Russian military aircraft bombed the
Georgian town of Gori. Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili proposed
a cease-fire. As part of his proposal, Georgian troops were pulled out
of Tskhinvali and had been ordered to stop responding to Russian
shelling.
(AP, 8/9/08)(Econ, 8/30/08, p.49)
2008 Aug 10, Georgian troops
retreated from the breakaway province of South Ossetia and their
government pressed for a truce, overwhelmed by Russian firepower as the
conflict threatened to set off a wider war. Georgia said it has shot
down 10 Russian planes, including four brought down Aug 9. It also
claimed to have captured two Russian pilots, who were shown on Georgian
television. Ukraine warned Russia it could bar Russian navy ships from
returning to their base in the Crimea because of their deployment to
Georgia's coast.
(AP, 8/10/08)
2008 Aug 11, Swarms of Russian
jets launched new raids on Georgian territory and Georgia faced the
threat of a second front of fighting as Russia demanded that Georgia
disarm troops near the breakaway province of Abkhazia.
(AP, 8/11/08)
2008 Aug 12, Georgia's Pres.
Mikhail Saakashvili said his government will declare that its breakaway
regions are occupied territories and will designate Russian
peacekeepers as occupying forces. Russia ordered a halt to military
action in Georgia, after five days of air and land attacks sent
Georgia's army into headlong retreat and left towns and military bases
destroyed. A Dutch television journalist was killed overnight when
Russian warplanes bombed the central Georgian city of Gori. Russia
later counted 133 civilian deaths in South Ossetia. Rights activists
later said fewer than 100 civilians were killed in South Ossetia. The
war cost some 850 lives and left over 35,000 displaced civilians, mot
of the Georgian.
(AP, 8/12/08)(Econ, 8/23/08, p.43)(WSJ, 9/12/08,
p.A1)(Econ, 10/3/09, p.65)
2008 Aug 13, Russian tanks rolled
into the crossroads city of Gori then thrust deep into Georgian
territory, violating the truce designed to end the six-day war. Georgia
said that 175 Georgians had died in five days of air and ground attacks
that left homes in smoldering ruins. EU foreign ministers agreed in
principle to send monitors to supervise a French-brokered ceasefire
between Russia and Georgia in the breakaway Georgian region of South
Ossetia. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Russia will spend at least
$400 million in 2008 on restoring South Ossetia's battered capital
Tskhinvali.
(AP, 8/13/08)(Reuters, 8/13/08)
2008 Aug 14, Georgian and Russian
troops faced off at a checkpoint outside the key city of Gori, calling
an already shaky cease-fire into question. An American official said
Russia appears to be sabotaging airfields and other military
infrastructure as its forces pull back. The Russian General
Prosecutor's office said it has formally opened a genocide probe into
Georgian treatment of South Ossetians. For its part, Georgia this week
filed a suit against Russia in the International Court of Justice,
alleging murder, rape and mass expulsions in both provinces.
(AP, 8/14/08)
2008 Aug 25, Russia's parliament
voted unanimously to urge the president to recognize the independence
of Georgia's two breakaway regions, a move likely to stoke further
tensions between Moscow and the small Caucasus nation's Western allies.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned ex-Soviet Moldova against
repeating Georgia's mistake of trying to use force to seize back
control of Transdniestria, a pro-Moscow breakaway region.
(AP, 8/25/08)(Reuters, 8/25/08)
2008 Aug 26, Russia formally
recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the breakaway Georgian
territories at the heart of its war with Georgia, heightening tensions
with the West as the US dispatched a military ship bearing aid to a
port city still patrolled by Russian troops. In a direct challenge to
Russia, the US announced it intends to deliver humanitarian aid to the
beleaguered Georgian port city of Poti, which Russian troops still
control through checkpoints on the city's outskirts.
(AP, 8/26/08)
2008 Aug 28, Russian forces turned
over 12 Georgian soldiers on the border of Abkhazia. Georgia's foreign
minister said ethnic Georgians were being cleared from their homes in
South Ossetia. A joint declaration from the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization denounced the use of force and called for respect for
every country's territorial integrity. Mikhail Mindzayev, the interior
minister of South Ossetia, said an unmanned Georgian spy plane was shot
down over South Ossetia by local forces.
(AP, 8/28/08)
2008 Aug 31, President Dmitry
Medvedev says Russia will follow the recognition of Georgia's breakaway
provinces with agreements on economic and military aid.
(AP, 8/31/08)
2008 Sep 8, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy pressed Moscow to honor its pledge to withdraw troops
from Georgia, while Russian soldiers prevented international aid
convoys from visiting Georgian villages in a tense zone around the
breakaway province of South Ossetia. Pres. Medvedev and Sarkozy revised
the EU-brokered deal to end the fighting between Russia and Georgia.
Medvedev said 200 EU monitors would deploy to regions surrounding South
Ossetia and Abkhazia by next month. After that, Russian troops would
pull out of those regions by Oct. 11 to a line that preceded last
month's fighting.
(AP, 9/8/08)(AP, 9/9/08)
2008 Sep 9, Russia said it will
station 7,600 troops in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia, announcing an
imposing long-term presence less than a day after agreeing to pull
forces back from areas surrounding the provinces.
(AP, 9/9/08)(WSJ, 9/10/08, p.A1)
2008 Sep 10, A Georgian police
officer was killed by gunfire that came from the direction of a Russian
checkpoint near separatist South Ossetia.
(AP, 9/10/08)
2008 Sep 13, Hundreds of Russian
forces packed up and withdrew from positions in western Georgia. A
Georgian official said Russia had met a deadline for a partial pullout
a month after the war between the two former Soviet republics. A
Georgian policeman at a post near Abkhazia was killed by gunfire that
came from the direction of a position where Abkhazian and Russian
forces have been based. Some 1,200 Russian servicemen still remained at
19 checkpoints and other positions, 12 outside South Ossetia and seven
outside Abkhazia.
(AP, 9/13/08)
2008 Sep 16, Georgia’s government
said intercepted mobile phone calls show that Russian tanks and troops
invaded before Georgia unleashed its offensive against South Ossetia,
pressing its claim that Russia was the aggressor in the war last month.
(AP, 9/16/08)
2008 Sep 17, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev signed friendship treaties with Georgia's breakaway
regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and promised them the backing of
Russia's armed forces.
(AP, 9/17/08)
2008 Oct 3, A car exploded outside
the Russian military's headquarters in South Ossetia, killing 7 people
and wounding 3. The South Ossetian government said a car, that had been
confiscated in an ethnic Georgian village after weapons were found in
it, exploded near a building where leaders of the Russian peacekeeping
force were located.
(AP,
10/3/08)(www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,432172,00.html)
2008 Oct 29, Russia's parliament
quickly ratified treaties cementing close economic and military ties
with Georgia's two breakaway provinces.
(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Nov 10, An explosion killed
two Georgian police officers near the disputed region of South Ossetia.
EU monitors called the attack an unacceptable breach of the cease-fire
that ended the Georgia-Russia war.
(AP, 11/10/08)
2008 Nov 29, Georgia said it is
cutting diplomatic relations with Nicaragua after the Central American
nation recognized the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
(AP, 11/29/08)
2008 Dec 22, OSCE talks on the
Georgia collapsed, when Russia demanded the group join Moscow in
recognizing the statehood of the provinces of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia. The mission will expire on Dec 31.
(AP, 12/23/08)
2009 Feb 18, Georgia and Russia
agreed to let monitors visit anywhere they want in Georgia and its 2
breakaway provinces.
(WSJ, 2/19/09, p.A1)
2009 Apr 30, Russia signed a deal
with Georgia's two breakaway regions giving Moscow the power to guard
the borders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a move sharply criticized in
Tbilisi.
(AP, 4/30/09)
2009 May 31, South Ossetia held
elections condemned as "illegitimate" by the EU. Eduard Kokoity
tightened his grip on the Georgian region after Yedinstvo (Unity), a
party loyal to him, won the elections.
(AFP, 6/1/09)
2009 Aug 1, Authorities in the
separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia said two mortar shells were
fired into the territory from Georgia proper. Georgia denied the claim
and suggested it was a provocation ahead of the anniversary of last
year's war with Russia.
(AP, 8/1/09)
2009 Aug 8, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev hailed the Russian victory in a war with Georgia a year
ago, saying the war had redrawn the map of the Caucasus for good.
(Reuters, 8/8/09)
2009 Sep 10, In Russia Venezuela’s
President Hugo Chavez recognized the pro-Russian rebel regions of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, a rare boost to the
Kremlin's campaign for their international acceptance.
(Reuters 9/10/09)
2009 Sep 30, An EU-commissioned
report said Georgia's attack on its breakaway South Ossetia region
marked the start of last year's war with Russia, which retaliated with
excessive force.
(AP, 9/30/09)
2010 Thomas de Waal authored “The
Caucasus: An Introduction.”
(Econ, 10/23/10, p.102)
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Subject = South Ossetia
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