Georgian-Russian War: What You Need To Know!
Posted by Carlos C. on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
WAR broke out between Russia and Georgia over the weekend — but what’s behind the conflict?
Here The Sun explains:
Q: Where is Georgia?Georgia straddles Asia and Europe, between Turkey and southern Russia.
Q: What is South Ossetia?Officially part of Georgia, the breakaway territory runs its own affairs. The size of Suffolk, it has a population of 70,000 — most of them hold Russian passports.
Q: Why is there a conflict?The South Ossetians want full independence from Georgia but the government wants it to remain part of Georgia. The two went to war in 1991-92 before peacekeepers were sent in. But fighting has continued between separatists and the Georgians.
Q: How did this new war start?
Separatists allegedly fired at Georgian peacekeepers. Georgia started to bomb Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia on Friday. Russia responded by sending in tanks and bombing parts of Georgia.
Q: Why does it matter to us?
Georgia is pro-Western and has troops in Iraq. The £2billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and gas pipeline passes through Georgia on its way to supplying the West.
Q: What happens next?Georgia say they have pulled their troops out of South Ossetia and Western leaders want the Russians to do the same. But the conflict could spread to another Georgian region, the larger Abkhazia, which also has Russian-backed separatists.
The country of Georgia (roughly the size of South Carolina) attacked factions last week inside South Ossetia, which is part of Georgia, that want to reunite with Russia. After Georgia sent troops to quell the situation, Russia decided to attack Georgia by claiming that Russia is protecting its citizens inside South Ossetia. However, Russia’s ultimate purpose is to take control of all of Georgia, which broke away from the former Soviet Union on April 9, 1991.
The Czar of Russia The Prime Minister of Russia, Vladimir Putin, is still in charge of Russia. President Dmitry Medvedev has been demoted to visiting Russian refugees in hospitals. On Putin’s orders, the Russian military has effectively cut Georgia in half and Russian troops continue to push into Georgia. Charges of ethnic cleansing have been leveled against Russia for their lack to sign a cease fire agreement against Georgia.
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