The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MAEIE) condemns the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Georgia, since August 2008. According to the MFAIE, Russia’s military actions against Georgia as “a flagrant violation of international law”.

“Today marks the 14th anniversary of Russia’s military aggression against Georgia, a flagrant violation of international law. I condemned it then and I have condemned it now,” the MAEIE announced in a statement.

Thus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates the firm support of the Republic of Moldova for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders.

“Moldova firmly supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders”, according to the MFA.

Today marks 14 years since Russia’s military aggression against Georgia, a flagrant violation of international law.

We condemned it then and we condemn it now. #Moldova strongly supports #Georgiaits sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

— 🇲🇩 MFA Moldova (@MoldovaMFA) August 7, 2022

On the night of August 7-8, 2008, Georgia, then led by President Mikheil Saakashvili, launched a military offensive to recover the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, which in 1990 unilaterally proclaimed its independence from Georgia.

Although the Georgian forces outnumbered the Ossetian ones, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and initially managed to advance far into the territory of South Ossetia, the Russians entered the war before Georgia captured the Roki Tunnel, which connects South Ossetia to Russia, attacking with tanks and paratroopers. The Security Council of Russia met on August 8, at the request of the then president, Dmitri Medvedev, and decided to enter the war on the side of the Ossetians. The argument was also brought by Medvedev, who claims that “women, children and bathers are dying in South Ossetia, most of them are citizens of the Russian Federation”, and “those responsible for this will be punished jointly”.

Air bases around the capital Tbilisi were also destroyed during the day. Saakashvili declared a state of war for 15 days and mobilized reservists, but within days the Russians controlled Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, and most of South Ossetia. Between August 7 and 12, Russia deployed about 20,000 troops to South Ossetia and the same number to Abkhazia, a total that is three times more than the Georgian army. So, on August 16, Georgia had to sign, in Moscow, the peace agreement with Russia. As a result of the war, it lost both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway region.

On August 26, 2008, the then president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev announced that, for “humanitarian” reasons, Russia recognizes the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. And in a press conference held afterwards, she emphasized that the recognition of the independence of these regions to Russia is “irrevocable”, and a polemic on this subject is “fantasy”.

During the Russo-Georgian war, which lasted a total of five days, the Georgian army lost 171 soldiers and the Russian army lost 64, with several hundred others wounded on both sides.

Now in 2022, 14 years after the war, diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia are still strained. Military experts and analysts argue that Georgia’s pro-Western policy is one of the causes of the conflict and strained relationship between Russia and the former Soviet republic.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear time and time again that Russia will not accept any foreign influence in the former Soviet space. But despite the conflict, Georgia continues to aim for NATO membership. Earlier, Dmitry Medvedev, the former prime minister of Russia, declared that Georgia’s accession to NATO could trigger “a terrible conflict” with catastrophic consequences. Later, however, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated the intention of the North Atlantic Alliance to welcome Georgia into its ranks. However, he did not say when this might happen. At the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008, member states promised that Ukraine and Georgia would join the alliance “in the future”.

Meanwhile, Russia has installed military bases in the two separate regions of Georgia. Tbilisi has always denounced the presence of Russian troops on Georgian territory, calling them “occupation forces”.

In the 22 years since he has been in charge of Russia, Vladimir Putin has participated in or ordered five military interventions outside the country: Chechnya, Georgia, Syria and Ukraine, twice being the targets of the “tsar” from the Kremlin. Ever since 1999, since he took power in Russia, Putin has played the card of military interventions at every opportunity. As a result, tens of thousands of people were killed, most of them civilians.