War in South Ossetia
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| War in South Ossetia (Georgian-Ossetian conflict) |
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| Part of the Georgian Civil War | |||||||||
 Location of South Ossetia within Georgia |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 South Ossetian Separatists North Ossetian Volunteers
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.svg/22px-Flag_of_Georgia_(1990-2004).svg.png){kind=small}  The National Guard of Georgia |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| ~2,000 dead?, unknown wounded |
~800 dead?, unknown wounded |
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| 1Involvement Disputed | |||||||||
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The War in South Ossetia was fought as part of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict from 1991 to 1992 between the Georgian government forces and ethnic Georgian militias on one side, and South Ossetian secessionists and North Ossetian volunteers on the other, with sporadic involvement of the Soviet/Russian military units. The war ended through a Russian-brokered ceasefire that established a joint peacekeeping force and left South Ossetia divided between the rivaling authorities.
[edit] The War
On the night of 5 January 1991, Georgian forces entered Tskhinvali. The Ossetian militants responded by firing at Georgian schools and houses in the city, while Georgians attacked Ossetian villages. The fighting in Tskhinvali first resulted in a divided town – an Ossetian controlled western part and a Georgian controlled eastern part. Towards to the end of January, the Georgians withdrew to the hills around the city according to the Russian mediated ceasefire.
On January 29, 1991, the Speaker of the South Ossetian Supreme Soviet, Torez Kulumbegov was invited on negotiations in Tbilisi, but was immediately arrested and charged with inciting ethnic hatred. His trial had been postponed several times before he was released in December 1991).
The most intense period of war was in March and April, 1991; after a period of relative calm in July and August, violence resumed in mid-September. Georgia imposed economic blockade on the rebel region: disconnected electricity supplies to Tskhinvali, and blocked the road by which the city received food and other products. The Ossetians blockaded Georgian villages and several atrocities occurred on both sides. The fighting left hundreds of killed and wounded and created approximately 80,000 refugees on the both sides of the Georgian-Russian border. Georgian forces sat in the hills around Tskhinvali, besieging the city, and other fighting took place around the city in the nearby villages and along the road to North Ossetia.
In February 1992, the fighting escalated, with sporadic Russian involvement. Georgian authorities claimed Russian generals supplied the Ossetian militias. Most independent observers agreed with that commanders of the Russian Interior Ministry Forces were actually involved in the conflict. Russian officials including the Chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet, Ruslan Khasbulatov and President Boris Yeltsin made statements supporting the Ossetians.
In the face of inner instability following the military coup against President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgia agreed to the negotiations to avoid the confrontation with Russia. On 24 June 1992, the Head of the State Council of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze and Russian President Boris Yeltsin met to discuss the question of South Ossetia. A cease-fire was agreed upon and on 14 July 1992, a peacekeeping operation began, consisting of a Joint Control Commission and joint Russian – Georgian – Ossetian (South and North Ossetian) military patrols.
