Home > 2,000 killed in Georgian offensive: Russia
Wars and conflicts International
by Vladimir Radyuhin
Moscow describes the situation in South Ossetia as a “humanitarian catastrophe”
MOSCOW: Russian forces have foiled Georgia’s plan for a blitzkrieg offensive against its breakaway territory of South Ossetia, said a Russian military spokesman on Saturday.
According to a map captured from a Georgian officer and shown on Russian TV on Saturday, the offensive plan called for the Georgian forces to capture half the territory of South Ossetia, including the regional capital Tskhinvali, within 24 hours. However, they met fierce resistance from local militia in Tskhinvali and failed to advance further.
After Russian troops and tanks crossed into South Ossetia on Friday, Georgian forces began to retreat. A Russian military spokesman said the decision to send in troops was taken after Georgian forces attacked and captured two bases of Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia.
Two battalions reinforced with tanks and artillery entered the region on Friday.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday it was sending in massive troop reinforcements to South Ossetia.
Over a 100 planeloads of paratroopers would be flown to the region from Moscow, Pskov and Ivanovo in the next few days.
No peace talks, yet
Russia’s Ambassador to Georgia, Vyacheslav Kovalenko, ruled out any peace talks with Georgia till it stops its offences and withdraws its forces from South Ossetia. He said the number of civilian casualties in the Georgian offensive against South Ossetia has reached 2,000.
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sobyanin described the situation in the war zone as a “humanitarian catastrophe.” He said over 30,000 refugees from South Ossetia had crossed into Russia in the past 36 hours.
Russia’s President Medvedev ordered a large-scale supply of emergency aid to the region left without clean water and electricity. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Georgia of “ethnic cleansing” in South Ossetia and implicitly held the U.S. and other NATO countries, which supplied Georgia with arms, responsible for the crisis.
Source "The Hindu", august 10 2008