| General Conflict Information |
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| Conflict name: |
Georgia (South Ossetia)
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Type of incompatibility:
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Territory |
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Interstate/intrastate dimension:
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Intrastate with foreign involvement |
| Conflict status: |
Terminated: 12 August, 2008 |
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Date of first stated goals of incompatibility:
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21 December, 1991
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Date of first use of armed force:
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22 December, 1991 |
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Date of first battle-related death:
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22 December, 1991 |
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Date when conflict reached 25 battle-related deaths:
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8 June, 1992 |
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Conflict Intensity and Warring Parties
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Conflict Summary
The dissolution of the Soviet Union gave rise to an armed conflict over the region of South Ossetia, which strived for independence from newly independent Georgia. After 1992, the conflict remained "frozen" for a long time, seeing sporadic violence and no political solution within reach. Under the Georgian President Saakashvili elected in 2004 tension heightened. It culminated in August 2008, when Russian troops repelled a Georgian attack on South Ossetia and over 600 people died in five days of fighting.
In 2009, the atmosphere was still dangerous. An EU mission continued to monitor the volatile ceasefire, but was denied access to South Ossetia. Russia did not comply with key provisions of the ceasefire that ended the fighting in August 2008. It strengthened its military presence in South Ossetia and blocked the extension of the mandate of the OSCE mission in Georgia. Negotiations on humanitarian and security issues did not achieve any tangible results.