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Tuesday, August 7, 2018

How we missed the chance to check Russian aggression

A decade ago today, Russia went to war with Georgia. It was the first time, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, that Russia had invaded a foreign country. The West’s response was weak, and this emboldened Vladimir Putin. We have been dealing with consequences ever since.

On the night of 7-8 August 2008, Russia sent its armed forces to repel a Georgian attack on South Ossetia, a separatist region within Georgia. Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s hot-headed president, had come to power in 2004 promising to re-unite his country. The attack on Tskhinvali, South Ossetia’s main city, was meant to be the start of this.

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