South Ossetia, surviving through the conflict (Part 1)

Aug 09 2013

The Republic of South Ossetia is a small state in the Caucasus that borders Russia to the north and Georgia to the south, west and east. In Soviet times the republic was part of Georgia as an autonomous district. Uneasy relations between Georgia and South Ossetia started in the late 1980s and on the night of August 7 to 8, 2008, Georgian troops began shelling Tskhinval, its capital.

To be continued...

Five years ago, war began in South Ossetia. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili ordered his army to invade the breakaway republic. The following day, Russia announced it was sending its troops into South Ossetia. These events are now called the ‘Five-Day War’, and were the official reason for recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by the Russian Federation. Five years later, Russian journalists tried to make sense of the events that gave rise to this independence of South Ossetia.

Find Tshinvali on the map

Five years after the war, if one looks at Tskhinvali from above, it seems that this is a new city with red-green inflorescent roofs. Having been brought into relative order, the center of the city, for people who come here for a day or two, presents a nice picture. However, if to look more closely, it becomes clear that the recovery process is still far from complete. Many residents have spent years in buildings ruined during the war, and some people still do not have normal living conditions.

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