The Aggression by the Russian Federation against Georgia

Author(s): Temuri Yakobashvili
Editor(s): Lili Di Puppo, Iris Kempe, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic
Series: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Issue: 10
Pages: 12-16
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Jefferson Institute, Washington D.C.; Heinrich Böll Foundation, Tbilisi; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen
Publication Year: 2009

On August 7, 2008, Russian armed forces, already pre-positioned on Georgia's northern border with the Russian Federation, launched a massive, coordinated, and - given the scale of the enterprise - premeditated assault on Georgia. Russian forces crossed the border into South Ossetia/the Tskhinvali region and, hours later, into Abkhazia. The highly calculated, full-scale attack took place on land, at sea, by air, and via cyberspace. The reason Moscow gave for its invasion of Georgia - to stop a genocide - was debunked as a lie by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia. Also, the report confirms the Georgian government's position that Russia has indeed violated international law by invading Georgia and later recognizing the independence of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia.

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