The Russo-Georgian War, AKA 2008 South Ossetia War was a military conflict that was fought in 2008 between Georgia (supported by the United States), Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The war began on August 7th, 2008 as a result worsening relations between Russia and Georgia, both former Soviet republics. The fighting primarily took place in the strategically important Transcaucasia region with some naval combat also taking place in the Black Sea. Russia occupied nearly all of Georgia except Tbilisi but was ultimately driven from the country by American and Georgian forces. Following a limited nuclear exchange resulting in the destruction of Tbilisi and Grozny, a ceasefire and eventually a peace treaty were signed with Russia withdrawing from Georgia and Georgia regaining control over South Ossetia and Abkhazia to Georgia. Russo-Georgian War marked the first time that Russian and American military personnel engaged in direct combat against one another since the Russian Civil War. The conflict also marked the first time nuclear weapons were used in war since World War Two. The conflict was regarded as the first European war of the 21st century and was also occasionally called World War III by unofficial sources.
| Russo-Georgian War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Georgia
|  Russia
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Mikheil Saakashvili
| Dmitry Medvedev
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| Strength | |||||||
| 28,000
| 150,000 (estimate)
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Military: 20,000 Civilian: 125,000 | Military: 70,000 Civilian: 27,000 |
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Background and Early War
OTL events
Everything before 12 August 2008
Peace Talks Fail (Point of Divergence)
Efforts to bring an end to the Russo-Georgia War failed when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev rejected the Sarkozy six-point peace plan after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had amended the agreement to require Russia to unconditionally withdraw all troops from the Republic of Georgia, including South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Invasion of Georgia Proper
Russian Offensive Continues
With the failure of the six-point peace plan, President Medvedev ordered the Russian military to take the rest of the Republic of Georgia, including Tbilisi. Shortly after the order was given, elements of the Russian 58th Combined Arms Army occupied the Georgian city of Gori and continued their southeast advance toward the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi. Additional Russian forces advanced west along the Rioni River towards the city of Kutaisi and south along the coast towards the seaside city of Batumi.
American Intervention
In response to Russian refusal to withdraw or halt offensive operations, American President George W. Bush ordered the deployment of US military forces to the Republic of Georgia. Within 24 hours, elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, the 75th Ranger Regiment, and the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) arrived in Tbilisi. The 1st Cavalry Division was also ordered to deploy to Georgia however their arrival was delayed due to Russian forces securing the Georgian coast. Furthermore, the Republic of Turkey refused to allow the United States to use its territory to move ground forces into Georgia from the south. The first direct combat between American and Russian forces took place on August 15th at Igoeti, a strategic crossroad 34 miles from Tbilisi, with the 3rd SFG(A) launching multiple ambushes against the advancing armored columns of the Russian 58th Army as a delay tactic to buy additional time for US and Georgian forces to prepare defenses in the capital. The Roki Tunnel was bombed by US aircraft, cutting off a critical resupply route for Russian forces in Georgia.
Battle of Kutaisi
The Battle of Kutaisi began on August 16th as Russian ground forces poured into Kutaisi. Fighting between Russian and US-backed Georgian forces lasted several days. Though the Georgian troops, backed by US air support, were able to inflict over 1,000 enemy casualties, the numerically superior Russian forces eventually overpowered the defenders and occupied the city by August 20th. This also gave the Russians a staging area to move their forces throughout western Georgia as well as block Georgian troop movements throughout the region.
Battle of Batumi
The Battle of Batumi began on August 17th when the Russian 58th Army and the Black Sea Naval Infantry launched a combined ground and amphibious assault into the seaside city of Batumi. The battle lasted nearly three days with Georgian troops, supported by US airpower, fighting back against the invading Russian forces. Despite suffering well over 1,000 casualties, the Russians defeated the Georgians and occupied the seaside city on August 20th. Furthermore, the Republic of Georgia was cut off from further direct support due to Russia holding the coast and Turkey still refusing to allow the Americans to send reinforcements through its territory.
Siege of Tbilisi
The Siege of Tbilisi began on August 18th when the Russians cut off all roads in and out of the Georgian capital. By this point, most of the remainder of the Republic of Georgia had been overrun. On August 21st, the the Russian 58th Combined Arms Army commenced its first major assault on Tbilisi with thousands of troops supported by tanks, armored personnel carriers, and gunships moving into the city. Russian aerial, artillery, and missile strikes were carried out against the besieged capital. The 82nd Airborne Division, the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), and the Georgian Armed Forces fought back against the Russians. While the Russians had the manpower advantage due to the short distance between Tbilisi and the Russian Federation, the Americans had an advantage in both technology and training while the Georgians had the home field advantage. The Americans and the Georgians still held most of the capital at the start of September, having withstood multiple attacks from Russian ground forces. The fighting by this point was locked in a stalemate with much of Tbilisi devastated by heavy urban warfare. Both sides also suffered heavy casualties with American and Georgian losses being several thousand each while the Russian losses were well over 10,000 dead.
Georgian Insurgency
In addition to frontline combat in Tbilisi, Russian forces throughout the country were facing guerilla attacks from Georgian partisans consisting primarily of military and police personnel who had evaded captured as well as some civilians. The Georgian militias used many of the weapons and tactics used by the Iraqi insurgents including IEDs, hit-and-run strikes, sniper attacks, etc. The insurgency was exceptionally bad for the Russians in the city of Kutaisi and the occupied Tbilisi suburbs. The attacks inflicted hundreds of Russian casualties and greatly hindered efforts to reinforce the Siege of Tbilisi.
American and Georgian Counterattacks
Battle of the Black Sea
The Russian Black Sea Fleet, supported by the Russian Air Force, attacked the United States Sixth Fleet on August 27th as the Americans were crossing the Black Sea towards the Coast of Georgia. Task Force 60, the Sixth Fleet's Battle Force, spearheaded the counterattack with any Russian aircraft, surface vessels, and submarines within the CTF 60 exclusion zone being targeted. In order to avoid further escalation, the Americans refrained from attacking opposing forces within Russian airspace and maritime zones. The Russians took advantage of this by attacking and then quickly retreating back into their territory, forcing the Americans to break off the pursuit. After over a week of intense naval and aerial combat, the Sixth Fleet lost a number of smaller warships though the Americans were ultimately victorious by September 3rd with most of the Russian Black Sea Fleet being sunk and many Russian aircraft being shot down.
Liberation of Western Georgia
The II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) had begun a major amphibious assault along the Russian-occupied Coast of Georgia on September 5th. Fighting quickly spread into Poti, Kobuleti, and Batumi as the Marines moved into all three Russian-occupied cities. Within 72 hours of landing, the Marines secured a beachhead spanning the southern half of Georgia's coastline and the 1st Cavalary Division began landing troops and equipment. The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, the Carrier Air Wing from Task Force 60, and the US Air Force also helped to reinforce the Georgian Air Force. As a result of the Americans opening up a new front, the Russian 58th Army redirected reinforcements intended for the Siege of Tbilisi to southwest Georgia instead while the Russian Air Force flew in additional fighter and attack aircraft. Within one week following the initial landing, the II MEF and 1st Cav began throughout western Georgia The Americans gained air superiority over Georgia as the antiquated MiG-29 Fulcrum proved no match for the American F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft. American F/A-18 Hornet attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters bombarded Russian ground forces well ahead of the ground advance. Russian forces were in complete disarray by two weeks since the initial landings and were in full retreat. The city of Kutaisi was liberated from Russian occupation on September 19th by US military and Georgian partisan forces.
US Bombs South Ossetia and Abkhazia
B-2 stealth bombers, B-52 strategic bombers, and ship-launched cruise missiles hit Russian, Ossetian and Abkhazian targets within the self-proclaimed Republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia the most of September. Hundreds of enemy combatants and officals were killed in the bombartment. South Ossetian Preident Eduard Kokoity was killed on September 22nd when a US cruise missile destroyed his compound in Tskhinvali. No attacks were carried out against Russian Federation territory though any aircraft crossing the border into Georgian airspace was fired on.
Relief of Tbilisi
With western Georgia secured, the 1st Cavalry and Second Marine Divisions advanced eastward in a headlong rush towards the besieged Georgian capital city of Tbilisi which was still held by the 82nd Airborne Division, the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), the Georgian Armed Forces, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia despite weeks of constant attack by the Russian ground and aerial forces. Heavy urban combat continued with heavy house-to-house fighting taking place throughout the much of the city. The Siege of Tbilisi finally ended on September 26th when US Army and Marine reinforcements arrived and overpowered the Russian forces in the Georgian capital. Casualties from the fighting in Tbilisi was the highest so far in the course of the war with the US and Georgia each losing nearly 5,000 troops while Russian casualties were an estimated 25,000-30,000. 15,000 Georgian civilians were also killed and roughly one-third of the population of over one million had lost their homes.
Northern Georgian Battlefield
With Tbilisi no longer under siege and most of the Republic of Georgia freed from Russian occupation, the combined American and Georgian forces quickly regrouped in preparation for the final counteroffensive against the Russian forces still in the country. The remnants of the Russian 58th Army and other formations also regrouped and had switched entirely to a defensive stance throughout northern Georgia. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev attempted to negotiate favorable armistice which would've allowed a division of Georgia in par with the Korean Armistice with Russian-backed north breaking off from US-supported south. However the United States and Georgia both refused, demanding Russia's unconditional withdrawal from Georgia and that the self-proclaimed republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia submit to Georgian authority. Russia and the breakaway republics refused and the war continued. Beginning on September 30th, American and Georgian forces began their rapid ground assault into northern Georgia. Though the Russians tried to maintain a defensive campaign, it proved ineffective and they were forced to retreat towards South Ossetia and Abkhazia. And even the self-proclaimed republics weren't safe havens for the Russians either. American paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division and the 75th Ranger Regiment were dropped ahead of the advance into South Ossetia and Abkhazia on October 3rd. Simultaneously, the 2nd Marine Division also launched an amphibious assault into Abkhazia. By October 8th, Georgia Proper was liberated, South Ossetia and Abkhazia were nearly overran, and the Russian military began a unilateral withdrawal from the Republic of Georgia. Victory seemed to be near...
Nuclear Escalation
Destruction of Tbilisi
On October 8th, 2008, the situation in Georgia took a massive turn for the worse when a Russian 9K720 Iskandar short-range ballistic missile armed with a nuclear payload was launched towards Tbilisi. Despite efforts from the US Patriot system to shoot it down, the nuclear warhead aboard the missile hit the center of Tbilisi and detonated with a yield of 50 kilotons which destroyed a significant portion of the Georgian capital city. 100,000 Georgian civilians were killed in the bombing and 145,000 more were wounded. 2,000 Georgian troops, as well as 4,500 American soldiers and marines, were also killed in the attack.
2008 Russo-American Nuclear Standoff
The United States Strategic Command was ordered to go on full alert. Minuteman missile silos were fully ready to launch on command, nuclear-armed B-2 and B-52 bombers were in the sky on their way to their fail-safe points, and all Ohio-class missile submarines moved to pre-launch positions. As the world prepared for the worse, US President George W. Bush was on the red phone with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as well as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Both Russian leaders denied ordering the use of nuclear weapons and blamed the Tbilisi bombing on rogue military officers aligned with the Chechen rebels hoping to spark a global thermonuclear war to destroy both superpowers so that Chechnya could rebuild their terrorist state without interference. Once the CIA confirmed that the rogue Russian officers were indeed aligned with Chechen terrorists, President Bush informed Medvedev and Putin of his intentions to launch a nuclear strike against the Chechen capital city of Grozny in retaliation for the bombing of Tbilisi. Both Russian leaders accepted Bush's ultimatum and vowed not to retaliate as long as the United States launched no further nuclear strikes.
Destruction of Grozny
Within hours since the destruction of Tbilisi, an American B-2 stealth bomber dropped a B61 nuclear bomb on Grozny. The bomb detonated with a yield of 45 kilotons and destroyed most of the Chechen capital city. Over 27,000 people were killed in the bombing and over 47,000 more were wounded. The bombing also eliminated the command structure of the Chechen rebels.
End of the Russo-Georgian War
Ceasefire
No further nuclear strikes took place following the destruction of Tbilisi and Grozny. The Russian Federation signed a ceasefire with the Republic of Georgia and the United States on October 9th to end the fighting and completed its withdrawal from Georgia over by October 15th. Russia and the United States also reduced their strategic alert status.
Repatriation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia
The Republic of Georgia reasserted full authority over the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The Georgian Armed Forces, backed by the United States Armed Forces, implemented martial law in both republics and stripped them of autonomy. South Ossetian President Boris Chochiev and Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh were placed under arrest to await trial for high treason and other crimes against the Republic of Georgia
Treaty of Kutaisi
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili met in the new Georgian capital city of Kutaisi on November 1st, 2008 where they signed a peace treaty and formally ended the Russo-Georgian War. American President George W. Bush was also present at the treaty signing. In addition to paying war reparations, the Russian Federation agreed recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as part of the Republic of Georgia and renounce any claim to both regions.