The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia, was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the Russian-backed separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The fighting took place in the strategically important South Caucasus region. It is regarded as the first European war of the 21st century.
Georgia declared its independence from the Soviet Union in April 1991, following a referendum during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, fighting (1991–92) between Georgia and Ossetian separatists resulted in parts of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast being under the de facto control of Russian-backed but internationally unrecognised separatists. In 1992, a joint peacekeeping force of Georgian, Russian, and Ossetian troops was stationed in the territory. A similar stalemate developed in the region of Abkhazia, where the separatists had waged a war in 1992–1993, culminating in the ethnic cleansing of Georgians. Following the election of Vladimir Putin in Russia in 2000 and a pro-Western change of power in Georgia in 2003, relations between Russia and Georgia began to severely deteriorate, reaching a full diplomatic crisis by April 2008.
