BBC: Russians 'leave Georgian areas'

The fighting in the region began on 7 August when Georgia tried to retake South Ossetia by force after a series of lower-level clashes.

More about it here

Russian troops have left "buffer zones" around Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgia's interior ministry said...

EU report about Georgia

«It seems however – but they will understand this themselves the coming days – that houses in Gori have not been damaged heavily, whereas the villages around the city have been completely smashed down. Therefore, the refugees from Gori might be able to go back to their houses soon, whereas those from the neighbouring villages do not have a house anymore.»

«Eka Gvalia is also noticing a sort of tendency by Georgian Government to push refugees to return home, more for strategic – it seems – rather than for humanitarian reasons. Eka’s feeling is that the government is not doing everything in their power to ease the situation, in a way maybe that the humanitarian dimension of the matter is used as propaganda for the conflict.»

Highlighted by me.

http://www.pmmg.org.ge/uploads/publish/EUreport_final.pdf

Human Rights Tribune writes a chronology of the war and looking for facts

Human Rights Tribune ( http://humanrights-geneva.info/How-the-Georgian-war-began,3393 )
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«How the Georgian war began»

«On August 14, Georgian prime minister Lado Gurgenidze gave more details from his side saying, “At around 6 am the Georgian forces blew up the Kurta bridge (about three km north of Tskhinvali). A column of the Russian troops that had entered the previous night from the Roki tunnel was there, so a couple of their vehicles were blown up as well… Think about how many hours of preparation, assembly, then marching, it would take for that column, moving at that speed on rugged terrain to be at the Kurta bridge at six in the morning. If that isn’t a premeditated invasion, I don’t know what is.”

Many of these assertions are disputed. For example, an IWPR reporter who visited the area last week did not see any destroyed bridges in the Kurta area.»

AP: Georgia admits to dropping cluster bombs

A prominent human rights group says Georgia has admitted dropping cluster bombs in its military offensive to assert control over the restive province of South Ossetia.

Human Rights Watch says it has received an official letter from Georgia's Defense Ministry that acknowledges use of the M85 cluster munition near the Roki tunnel that connects South Ossetia with Russia.

The M85 is the same weapon that was used extensively by Israel in its 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

HRW arms division researcher Bonnie Docherty told reporters in Geneva on Monday that Russia undoubtedly used cluster munition in several places during the conflict. However, Russia has denied using the weapon.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5je4oTliESokD-zge0diVbbczCPIgD92TT2VG0

US ambassador endorses Moscow military reaction

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to Moscow John Beyrle, in a rare U.S. comment endorsing Russia's initial moves in Georgia, described the Kremlin's first military response as legitimate after Russian troops came under attack.

US citizen in South Ossetia

BBC about Georgian aggression

"Virtually all the people of the city are in shelters, myself included. It started at midnight, and has barely stopped for a minute," she told the BBC. "Can you hear? That's rockets. All my windows have blown out. Thirty-five thousand residents of our capital have become the hostages of Georgian fascism."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7548715.stm

Евросоюз требует немедленно прекратить насилие в Южной Осетии

Евросоюз требует немедленно прекратить насилие в Южной Осетии

Евросоюз (ЕС) крайне обеспокоен развитием ситуации в Южной Осетии и призывает все стороны конфликта немедленно прекратить насилие в регионе, передает Reuters со ссылкой на источник в руководстве блока. "Мы пристально следим за ситуацией и крайне обеспокоены тем, как она развивается", - заявил представитель Евросоюза, добавив, что ЕС поддерживает контакт со всеми заинтересованными международными сторонами, включая США, Россию и Организацию по безопасности и сотрудничеству в Европе...Читать далее > РБК. Политика

Medvedev holds emergency meeting

RBC, 08.08.2008, Moscow 12:27:53.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is holding an emergency meeting regarding the situation in South Ossetia, the Russian leader's press office reported today. It also announced earlier that Medvedev was receiving full and immediate information on military operations from the South Ossetian conflict zone.

The participants of the meeting are now discussing emergency measures to be taken to settle the Georgian-Ossetian conflict and to protect the peaceful population of South Ossetia, given Russia's peacekeeping mandate in the area, as well as to protect Russian citizens and the country's national interests.

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20080808122753.shtml

Georgian artillery and tanks attack Russian peacekeepers

RBC, 08.08.2008, Tbilisi 11:08:51.
Georgian artillery, tanks, and infantry fighting vehicles have attacked a battalion of Russian peacekeepers, Vladimir Ivanov, deputy commander of joint peacekeeping forces in South Ossetia, told RBC today. He noted that he had no information to confirm that any peacekeepers had been killed or injured.

The central part of Tskhinvali is currently under heavy shelling, in which artillery and the Grad multiple-launch rocket systems are being used, Ivanov said. Massive military operations are underway on the southern and south-eastern outskirts of Tskhinvali, according to Ivanov. He also pointed out that five Georgian planes had bombarded South Ossetian positions earlier.

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20080808110851.shtml

Georgia's jets attack humanitarian aid convoy

RBC, 08.08.2008, Tskhinvali 11:53:28.
Georgia's Su-25 fighters bombed the humanitarian aid convoy earlier today which was bound from North Ossetia to Tskhinvali, South Ossetia's state information and press committee reported. North Ossetia's President Teimuraz Mamsurov was going with the convoy. There have been no reports of deaths or injuries in the attack. South Ossetia has asked Russia to take urgent steps to protect Russians in the republic and work to stop massive bloodshed.

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20080808115328.shtml