The Battle of Tskhinvali was the only real battle of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. Tskhinvali is the capital of South Ossetia, a region that broke away from Georgia and declared, at the mercy of Russia, an independent "republic ».
On August 8, 2008, Georgian troops entered the city after friendly artillery bombardment. However, the Georgian advance was stopped by Ossetian militia and Russian forces. This was followed by the reinforcement of the Russian forces and the expulsion of the Georgians from the city. The Georgians again attempted to capture the city as Russian forces slowly arrived. After fierce clashes, the Georgians were forced to retreat on August 11.
The Russian aerial intervention
Russian aircraft began to attack Georgian targets as early as the morning of August 8. Su-24 and Su-25 attack aircraft and Su-27 and Mig-29 fighters were used in the operations. According to some sources, Russian aircraft immediately dominated the air.
Other, more authoritative sources, however, report that the Russian air force suffered serious losses from the start, losing three Su-25s in the first hours of the clashes and being forced to suspend operations for several hours. Then a Su-24 and a Tu-22M heavy bomber were shot down.
As reported by the Russian Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), Russian aircraft reappeared over the city on August 10. The Georgians had at least one squadron of anti-aircraft artillery equipped with Buk-M1 systems and at least two squadrons with Osa-AKs and some modernized Osa-AKMs. Thus the Georgian forces had strong anti-aircraft cover from the start.
The Russian side admitted the loss of two Su-25s and a Tu-22M bomber . Their pilots were captured, according to sources cited by Reuters. On the other hand, the Ossetians supported the shooting down of two Georgian aircraft.
The Russian air force carried out about 200 sorties during the conflicts, including operations inside Georgian territory. However, due to a lack of night vision systems, most Russian aircraft operated mainly during the day, while the Georgian Su-25s that had such systems operated mainly at night to avoid the Russians.
However, the Russians managed to hit the Georgian airfields, pinning the enemy air force on the ground for at least a day. However, the Russians themselves criticized their air force for its assistance in the fight and mainly for the insufficient support of the ground units. Particularly Russian sources report that the link between ground and air forces was almost non-existent. Of the six Russian aircraft that were lost in the operations, half, according to Russian sources, were shot down by friendly fire.
However, opinions differ on this. It appears that the Georgians shot down at least four Russian aircraft while the Russians lost over 10 in total. In any case, the Russian air force appeared unprepared against a small and weak opponent.
Su-25 aircraft of the Air Force of Georgia.
