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Tskhinvali (also spelled Tskhinval, Cchinvali or Cxinvali; Ossetic: Цхинвал or Чъреба, Tskhinval or Ch'reba; Georgian: ცხინვალი, IPA: [t͡sxinvɑli]), is the capital of the de facto independent unrecognised republic of South Ossetia, which is claimed by Georgia but supported militarily by Russia. According to Georgia's official administrative divisions, Tskhinvali is a city in the Shida Kartli region.

It is located on the Great Liakhvi River approximately 100 km (62 miles) northwest of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

Name

The name of Tskhinvali is derived from Georgian Krtskhinvali (ქრცხინვალი, literally meaning "the land of hornbeams"), which is a historical name of the city^{citation needed}. From 1934 to 1961, the city was named Staliniri (სტალინირი), after Joseph Stalin. Modern Ossetians call the city Tskhinval (leaving off the final "i", which is a nominative case ending in Georgian); the other Ossetian (unofficial) name of the city is Chreba.

History

The area around the present-day Tskhinvali was first populated back in the Bronze Age. The unearthed settlements and archaeological artifacts from that time are unique in that they reflect influences from both Iberian (east Georgia) and Colchian (west Georgia) cultures with possible Sarmatian elements.

Tskhinvali was first chronicled by Georgian sources in 1398 as a village in Kartli (central Georgia) though a later account credits the 3rd century AD Georgian king Asphagur of Iberia with its foundation as a fortress. By the early 18th century, Tskhinvali was a small "royal town" populated chiefly by monastic serfs. Tskhinvali was annexed to Imperial Russia with the rest of eastern Georgia in 1801. Located on a trade route which linked North Caucasus to Tbilisi and Gori, Tskhinvali gradually developed into a commercial town with a mixed Jewish, Georgian, Armenian and Ossetian population. In the 1910s, its censused population was 5,033 with 42.3% Jews, 33% Georgians, 13.4% Armenians and 11% Ossetians^{citation needed}.

The town saw clashes between Georgian People's Guard and pro-Bolshevik Ossetian peasants during the 1918-20 period, when Georgia enjoyed brief independence from Russia. Soviet rule was established by the invading Red Army in March 1921, and a year later, in 1922, Tskhinvali was made a capital of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian SSR. Subsequently, the town became largely Ossetian due to intense urbanization and Soviet Korenizatsiya ("nativization") policy which induced an inflow of the Ossetians from the nearby rural areas into Tskhinvali. It was essentially an industrial center, with lumber mills and manufacturing plants, and had also several cultural and educational institutions such as a venerated Pedagogical Institute (currently Tskhinvali State University) and a drama theatre. According to the last Soviet census (1989), Tskhinvali had a population of 42,934.

During the acute phase of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, Tskhinvali was a scene of ethnic tensions and ensuing armed confrontation between Georgian and Ossetian forces. The 1992 Sochi ceasefire accord left Tskhinvali in the hands of Ossetians.

Currently, Tskhinvali functions as the capital of South Ossetia and has a population of approximately 30,000. It is now significantly impoverished in the absence of a permanent political settlement between the two sides.

The city contains several monuments of medieval Georgian architecture, with the Kavt'i Church of St George being the oldest dating back to the 8th-10th centuries.

2008 Georgia vs. South Ossetia and Russia war

The Battle of Tskhinvali was a battle for the city of Tskhinvali, the capital of the Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia, fought over three days in August 2008 as the main engagement in the 2008 South Ossetia War. Parts of Tskhinvali were devastated in the three-day fighting,^[8] mostly by the initial Georgian attack on August 8.^[9]

The battle

The cities of Tskhinvali and Gori are located in the valley of the Greater Liakhvi River within about 20 miles (32 km) of each other. The Georgian military was based at Gori, while Tskhinvali was the primary objective of the Georgian forces.^{citation needed} It was suggested by Civil Georgia, that the ultimate goal of the Georgian forces was to control the Roki Tunnel, which is the sole major land route from Russia to South Ossetia.^[10]

The Georgian Army entered the province of South Ossetia during the early hours of August 8, 2008, after a prolonged artillery onslaught on the city of Tskhinvali.^[11] By 04:45 a.m. Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temuri Yakobashvili announced, that Tskhinvali was nearly surrounded by the Georgian forces.^[12] After hours of artillery bombardment, Georgian forces moved into the city and were heading toward the city center, where they were met with fierce resistance from the South Ossetian rebels. There, according to media reports, hand-to-hand fighting occurred and several Georgian tanks were destroyed. However, the Georgians kept advancing through the city, burning the separatist presidential palace. In the end, the Georgian army managed to take control of a big part the city, after only a few hours of intense urban combat.^[9] However, despite the Georgian claim, that Tskhinvali was captured and Georgia now controls two-thirds of South Ossetia's territory, reports were coming out of the city, that there were still some pockets of separatist resistance.^{citation needed}

The Russian Ministry of Defence also reported, that at least 10 Russian soldiers were killed and 30 wounded in the initial Georgian shelling of the Russian peacekeeping forces base at Tskhinvali.^[13] This number was later revised to 13 killed and 150 wounded.^[14]

On August 8, Russian ground forces with air support, crossed the international border into South Ossetia from the Russian republic of North Ossetia-Alania.^[15] The Russians reportedly reached Tskhinvali several hours later with two armoured battalions of the 58th Army.^[16] Both sides (Russia and Georgia) used armoured vehicles and artillery during the fight for the city. On August 9, the Russian 58th Army commander Lieutenant General Anatoly Khrulyov was wounded in a Georgian ambush, which reportedly inflicted heavy losses on the Russian spearhead column.

After the Russians and South Ossetian fighters drove the Georgians out of the outskirts of Tskhinvali, the Georgian units regrouped with armored reinforcements from Gori.^{citation needed} On the later half of August 9, the regrouped Georgian forces reportedly launched a new offensive against South Ossetian and Russian defenders of Tskhinvali, using heavy tube and rocket artillery, while heavy fighting was reportedly underway on the city outskirts with Georgian forces breaking through the defenses and the rebel sources reporting three enemy tanks destroyed.^[17] Just before midnight a five-hour artillery onslaught on the city ended,^{citation needed} but the fighting with the Georgian infantry in the south of Tskhinvali continued.^{citation needed} Civilians still remained in the basements with no food or water.^{citation needed} The South Ossetian forces complained, that Georgia had not yet provided a peace corridor to evacuate the civilians, caught up in crossfire.^{citation needed}

By August 10, the joint Russian and South Ossetian forces regained control over the city, as the Georgian forces withdrew.^[18] However, according to the Russians, some Georgian snipers and mobile infantry groups still remained in Tskhinvali.^[19]

While there was no ground fighting in Gori on August 9 or 10, this launch point of the Georgian military was attacked from the air and residential areas were hit by Russian aircraft.^[20]

Casualties

The number of total civilian casualties in Tskhinvali remains unknown, as no official investigation took place and no independent third-party estimates have been reported. Russian officials asserted on August 9, that more than 2,000 civilians had died. The pre-war population being around 30,000.^[14] However, based on the number of wounded being treated in the hospitals, this number may be inflated.^[21] On August 14, South Ossetian separatists claimed, they have identified 200 corpses of South Ossetian civilians, saying that 500 are missing, at the same time, Russian investigators said, they had identified a total of 60 civilians killed during the fighting.^[22]

Several journalists were reported to be among the casualties,^[3] including the two, who were embedded with the ambushed Russian armoured column, in which General Khrulyov was wounded.^[4]

Military losses are also unknown or unclear with the Russian claim of 25 Russian soldiers dead or missing and 150 wounded by the afternoon of August 10.^[23]^need quote Alexander Lomaia, secretary of Georgia's National Security Council stated, that 200 Georgian soldiers were killed in the Battle of Tskhinvali and air raids on military bases in other parts of Georgia.^[24] South Ossetian separatists claimed, that "foreign mercenaries", including "blacks", were found among the dead Georgian soldiers, this had not been confirmed by Georgia.^[25] ^[22] Russians said, they found more than 40 bodies of Georgian soldiers in the city.^[22] South Ossetian military and militia casualties are unknown.

References

^ De facto independent, however internationally recognized as part of Georgia.
^ Georgia pulls out of Tskhinvali, Al Jazeera, August 10, 2008
^ ^a ^b Journalists Suffered Combat Losses, Kommersant, Aug. 11, 2008
^ ^a ^b ^c (Russian) Трое суток в эпицентре войны, Moskovskiy Komsomolets, 10.08.2008
^ (Russian) Mamuka Kurashvili, Lenta.Ru, Aug. 14, 2008
^ (German) Kaukasus-Konflikt: Moskau trauert um südossetische Opfer, RIA Novosti, 14/ 08/ 2008
^ Russia exaggerating South Ossetian death toll, says human rights group Russia exaggerating South Ossetian death toll, says human rights group, The Guardian, August 13 2008
^ Heavy damage in Tskhinvali, mostly at gov't center, Associated Press, Aug 12, 2008
^ ^a ^b ‘Bodies are lying everywhere. It’s hell’, The Times, Aug 10, 2008
^ MIA: Java and Roki Tunnel are Next Targets, Civil.Ge, 9 Aug.'08
^ Heavy fighting in South Ossetia, BBC News, 8 August 2008 (Georgian MLRS launched rockets on Tskhinvali - BBC video)
^ Tskhinvali almost surrounded - Georgian official, Itar-Tass, 8 August 2008.
^ (Russian) Минобороны РФ заявило о расстреле российских миротворцев, Lenta.ru, 08.08.2008
^ ^a ^b 2,000 civilians dead in Tskhinvali fighting-Ifax, Reuters, 09 Aug 2008
^ Russian tanks 'rolling into Georgian breakaway', CNN, August 8, 2008
^ (Russian) Russian tanks entered Tskhinvali, Lenta.Ru, 08.08.2008
^ Georgia Army Launches New Offensive on South Ossetia Capital Tskhinvali, Sofia News Agency, 9 August 2008
^ Russia expands Georgia blitz, deploys ships, Associated Press, Aug 10, 2008
^ Georgia 'calls Ossetia ceasefire', BBC News, 10 August 2008
^ Russian jets attack Georgian town, BBC News, 9 August 2008
^ Rights group challenges Russian version of war, Reuters, 13 Aug 2008
^ ^a ^b ^c Russians launch 'genocide' enquiry, Agence France Press, August 14 2008
^ (Russian) Посол России в Грузии заявил о двух тысячах погибших жителях Цхинвали, Lenta.Ru, 09.08.2008
^ Georgia withdraws troops from South Ossetia capital, CNN, 10 August 2008
^ Dead Mercenaries Found in Tskhinvali, Kommersant, Aug. 10, 2008

Tskhinvali.html

Contents

Name

History

2008 Georgia vs. South Ossetia and Russia war

The battle

Casualties

References

External links

Pictures

Videos

Sister cities

Notes

External links

Pictures

References