A number of recent media reports have questioned the long-standing Georgian assertion that it was acting defensively in its August war with Russia. However, evidence gathered by RFE/RL suggests that ethnic-Georgian villages came under heavy shell fire in the days leading up to and evening of August 7. More
Leaders from Georgia, Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania speak to thousands gathered in the Georgian capital on August 12 Play(Reuters video)
Review of the fighting in Georgia's breakaway regions, and the latest efforts to end the conflict. Play (Reuters video)
Photos by RFE/RL's Georgian Service correspondent of a town under attack
Status: The region broke away from Georgia in a 1991-92 war. A peacekeeping force with 500 peacekeepers each from Russia, Georgia, and North Ossetia monitors a 1992 truce.Population: Approximately 70,000 (according to the 1989 census, about two-thirds Ossetian, one-third Georgian)Capital: Tskhinvali Languages: Ossetian, Georgian, RussianReligion: Orthodox ChristianitySouth Ossetia: Timeline Of A Crisis