War → 2008 South Ossetia war

The 2008 South Ossetia war formally began on August 7, 2008 with a military attack by Georgia into South Ossetia. South Ossetian sources say more then 2000 people were killed by Georgian military troops (most of the killed people were Ossetian children and women (many of them were citizens of the Russian Federation) who tried to escape from Tskhinvali (the capital of South Ossetia) into Russia. Russia responded the next day by large scale bombardment of Georgian military targets and by sending military troops into South Ossetia, quickly driving the Georgian troops out of Tskhinvali. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused Georgia of committing "genocide" against Ossetian people.