Russo-Georgian War: August 15, 2008

Nine years have passed since the Russo-Georgian War of August 2008. Civil.ge uses its archives and other sources to provide a daily recap of the events of the war. We start on August 1, 2008, amid the final stage of pre-war escalation, and will continue up to the occupation of Akhalgori Municipality by the Russian troops on August 16.

August 15

  • Russian-backed Tskhinvali leader Eduard Kokoity says that Tskhinvali militias have “demolished everything” in the ethnic Georgian areas of Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, and that they were not going to let ethnic Georgian civilians back to their villages.
      
  • Tskhinvali “parliament chairman” Znaur Gassiev tells Russian journalists: “The war won’t start again. We have done a nasty deed, I know. But Georgians will not come back here again – we have burnt all their houses in their enclaves.”
      
  • Russian troops continue occupation of Gori, refuse to allow Georgian police into the city.
      
  • A journalist is robbed by the Russian-backed Tskhinvali militias in Kareli District, two other journalists are briefly detained by the Russian troops in Poti.
      
  • Human Rights Watch confirms that Russia used cluster bombs against populated areas during the war, causing civilian casualties.
      
  • Around 15:30 several Russian military helicopters firebomb forests in Borjomi District, causing a huge blaze.
      
  • Russian troops loot the Georgian Coast Guard buildings and vessels in Poti.
      
  • At 18:30 Russian troops start to move eastward along the main highway. They stop and open a checkpoint near village Igoeti, Kaspi District, about 30 kilometers from Tbilisi.
      
  • Around 21:00 Russian troops establish a checkpoint in Khashuri town, west of Gori.
      
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel says there is no change in the position regarding Georgia’s NATO membership.
      
  • U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Tbilisi. President Saakashvili criticizes lack of sufficient Western support for Georgia at a joint press conference.

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