Russo-Georgian War

The Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia, was a 5-day war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation in August 2008. It took place within Georgia's internationally recognized territory, which includes Russia-backed South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Hostilities broke out on 1 August, when South Ossetian separatists began shelling Georgian villages, eventually prompting a Georgian military offensive into South Ossetia on 7 August. The Russian military invaded Georgia on 8 August and was joined by Abkhaz separatists, although Russian troops had already been covertly operating in South Ossetia before 7 August. The war ended on 12 August 2008, when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered Russian troops to halt their operations in Georgia. A formal ceasefire agreement brokered by France was signed into force by Georgia and Russia on 16 August. It is widely regarded as the first European war of the 21st century.

Following the 1991 Georgian independence referendum, the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic declared independence as a sovereign state amidst the dissolution of the Soviet Union. A year later, the South Ossetia war and the Abkhazia war resulted in Georgia's loss of territory in what had been the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast and the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, respectively, to two internationally unrecognized separatist movements that were supported by the newly independent Russian Federation. A series of ceasefire agreements brokered by Russia in 1992, 1993, and 1994 resulted in the establishment of the "Joint Control Commission" in South Ossetia, but Georgians were ethnically cleansed from Abkhazia by 1998. In 2000, Vladimir Putin became Russia's president, while Georgia experienced the Rose Revolution in 2003 and moved towards forging closer ties with the European Union and NATO. Consequently, Georgia–Russia relations deteriorated rapidly by 2006 and spiralled into a diplomatic crisis by 2008.

When South Ossetian separatists broke the 1992 ceasefire agreement on 1 August 2008, Georgian peacekeepers responded sporadically. As the artillery barrages against Georgian villages intensified, however, the Georgian Defence Forces launched an offensive into South Ossetia on 7 August and seized the separatist capital city Tskhinvali within hours. Prior to Georgia's entry into the region, some Russian troops had illicitly crossed the Georgia–Russia border through the Roki Tunnel. A day later, Russia falsely accused Georgia of perpetrating "genocide" and "aggression against South Ossetia" before invading both disputed and undisputed Georgian territory. Combat in and around South Ossetia continued for several days until Georgian troops were forced to retreat from the region. The Russian Navy blockaded part of Georgia's coast along the Black Sea, while the Russian Army and Abkhaz separatists opened a second front against Georgia. The war came to an end after French president Nicolas Sarkozy personally negotiated between the Georgian and Russian governments. Before, during, and after the 16-day war, Russia engaged in an extensive campaign of cyberattacks and disinformation against Georgia.

During the war, the Georgian cities Zugdidi, Senaki, Poti, and Gori were temporarily occupied by Russia, and Georgians were ethnically cleansed from South Ossetia. On 26 August, the Georgian government severed diplomatic ties with Russia after the latter recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent sovereign states. The war displaced approximately 192,000 people across Georgia. In 2012, Putin admitted to a delegation of journalists that the Russian government had prepared an actionable plan to invade Georgia in 2006–2007 and that "it is no secret" that the Russian military provided training to South Ossetian separatists. In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia's maintenance of "direct control" over the two separatist regions meant that it was legally responsible for the grave human rights violations occurring there. In 2022, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Mikhail Mindzaev, Hamlet Guchmazov, and David Sanakoev, who are all charged with war crimes against the Georgian people in August 2008. In 2025, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia to pay €253 million in damages to more than 29,000 Georgian victims suffering from the adverse effects of Russian military occupation.