Russo-Georgian War: A Decade-Long Conflict Escalates into Violence

On 8 August 2008, the long-running conflict between Russia and Georgia escalated into a major war. It was a war between a small Caucasian nation and the superpower it had once been a part of. Simply put, the Russo-Georgian War was the most violent episode of the conflict that had begun more than a decade earlier. Georgia declared its independence during the breakup of the Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991. Shortly after, pro-Russian separatists occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia, 20% of Georgia's total area. This resulted in a stalemate. In 2008, US President George W. Bush expressed support for Georgia's and Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This was viewed by Russia as tantamount to a hostile military deployment on their borders. Relations between Russia and Georgia were already tense. Vladimir Putin was in power in Russia, and Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili expressed his intention to bring Georgian troops back to South Ossetia by shelling Georgian villages on 1 August.