1. TIMELINE OF THE CONFLICT IN SOUTH OSSETIA
(July 23 – August 12, 2008)

July 23, 2008

Republic of South Ossetia said citing Russian peacekeepers, that it had detected an illegal flight over the de facto independent region. Vladimir Ivanov, an aide to the commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone, was quoted as saying that an aircraft was observed at 22:20 local time on Tuesday evening.

August 1, 2008

Tskhinvaliand a number of other locations were assailed for several hours by concentrated shelling from the Georgian side using firearms, grenade launchers and mortars that led to the casualties among population of the South Ossetia as well as a serious devastations appeared. South Ossetia started the evacuation of its population to North Ossetia, 2,5 thousand people left their dwellings within the first two days of shelling.

August 2, 2008 (08:00)

At least six people have been killed and 13 wounded in a series of gunfights along the border between Georgia and South Ossetia. Russian peacekeepers in the conflict zone said the incidents had been provoked by Georgia.

"We have not yet issued orders for general mobilization but if similar incidents continue we will not only mobilize the population but will also immediately take other appropriate measures," Mikhail Mindzayev the interior Minister of S.Ossetia told RIA Novosti from Tskhinvali. The South Ossetian government held an emergency meeting on Saturday to analyze the current situation in the Georgia-S. Ossetia conflict zone. "The meeting discussed a possible mobilization and the measures to ensure the safety of local residents," Mindzayev said. "If Georgia continues its provocations our republic will respond with all available forces and means."

August 2, 2008 (14:00)

Russia's Foreign Ministry called on Saturday upon Georgia and South Ossetia to show restraint and search for ways to settle the conflict without violence. Tskhinvali has already started the evacuation of the residents from regions bordering Georgia to North Ossetia, which is part of Russia.

August 2, 2008 (18:00)

South Ossetia's leader Eduard Kokoity, who had to interrupt his visit to Russia and return to the republic on Saturday after the border clashes with Georgia, said that Tskhinvali was prepared to mobilize the population to repel possible Georgian attacks.

"If tensions in the region continue to escalate, we are ready to carry out a general mobilization of the population in South Ossetia and to announce a recruitment of volunteers in the whole North Caucasus region," Kokoity said.

He reiterated that Georgia had long been seeking the opportunity to start a war with South Ossetia. "We have tried hard to avoid the war and continue peace negotiations, but Georgia is not willing to give us this chance," the South Ossetian leader said. "We must defend our people and our land."

Mr. T.Yakobashvili, Georgia’s Minister of State for Reintegration Affairs, while visiting South Ossetia, announced after his meetings with representatives of the OSCE Mission, Gen. M.Kurashvili, the Chief-of-Staff of Peacemaking Operations of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, and Gen. M.Kulakhmetov, the Commander of Joint Peacekeeping Forces, that in the view of Georgian authorities there is no alternative to direct negotiations between Tbilisi and Tskhinvali and they are prepared to conduct negotiations without precedent conditions. According to Mr. T.Yakobashvili, the Georgian authorities will exert every effort for the sake of political settlement.

"We will temporarily and unilaterally cease fire in the conflict zone. This is our last attempt to avoid large-scale military operations," the minister said, without disclosing a timeframe for the ceasefire.

August 3, 2008

The Georgian side proceeded with concentrating troops at South Ossetian border. The column of artillery amounting to one battalion of field artillery 122-mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30) and two mortar batteries, which belong to the Georgian Ministry of Defense’s IVth Motorized Infantry Brigade, stepped forth from a military base in Gori towards the republic's capital Tskhinvali.

August 6, 2008

YuryPopov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's envoy and a Co-chairman of the Joint Control Commission (JCC), who visited Tskhinvali on Thursday, announced that Russia would mediate a meeting on Friday afternoon between Georgia's Yakobashvili and South Ossetia's Deputy Prime Minister Boris Chochiyev. Arrangements have been made to hold the meeting at peacekeepers' headquarters in Tskhinvali. This meeting, however, never occurred because of shelling of Tskhinvali and other localities, resumed August 7.

August 7, 2008 (09:00)

Georgia located 27 “GRAD” emplacements in the vicinity of Gori. An entire motorized column passed in the direction of South Ossetia. From Kutaisi, twenty trucks with military personnel, twenty 4x4 “Toyotas” armed with heavy machine-guns, three “Grad” rocket systems, three IFVs and three rocket launchers were moved to Gori.

"Peacekeepers have detected illegal passes of at least eight aircraft [over S. Ossetia], including five Su-25 Frogfoot attack planes and three reconnaissance drones," said Vladimir Ivanov, an aide to the commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone. He said the aircraft flew from Georgia heading north toward the Dzhava district in South Ossetia.

South Ossetia said on Wednesday that Georgia is planning a full-scale invasion of the region before the start of September.

August 7, 2008 (12:00)

Tskhinvaliand its vicinity were assailed by large-caliber shelling from Georgian villages of Nikozi and Ergneti.

August 7, 2008 (15:45)

Military observers from Georgia left the disposition of the joint peacekeepers HQ and check-points. Georgia’s Minister of State for Reintegration Affairs T.Yakobashvili announced that the Georgian side will unilaterally declare temporal cease-fire. According to him, the Georgian side wishes to demonstrate to Tskhinval authorities “the inanity of armed confrontation”. T.Yakobashvili informed about his intentions to visit the conflict zone together with Mr. Y.Popov, the Ambassador at large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and to try to sit at the bargaining table.

August 7, 2008 (19:40)

Mr. M.Saakashvili addressed the Georgian people. He announced that on Thursday evening he had ordered all Georgian units to stop responding to fire in the conflict zone of Tskhinvali. The President confirmed: “I would like to address everyone who shoots at Georgian policemen. With all responsibility I tell you, that few hours ago I made a very uneasy decision – not to respond to fire”.

He said he was prepared to enter into "any kind of talks," in order to find a solution to the current Georgian-South Ossetian conflict.

"I beg you [South Ossetians] to cease fire immediately. We have no wish to wage war against you. Don't try the patience of our country. Let's stop this escalation and start talks - direct, multilateral, any kind of talks," Saakashvili said in a televised address. "Let's give peace and dialogue a chance," said Saakashvili.

Alexander Lomaya, who heads the Georgian National Security Council, said Saakashvili had also issued instructions for the country's armed forces not to return fire if they came under attack from South Ossetian forces.

Lomayafailed to confirm however whether Tbilisi was deploying troops and military hardware in the conflict zone, saying only that Georgia was seeking a peaceful settlement.

August 7, 2008 (22.35)

Only three hours after Saakashvili’s declarations, Georgia started its offensive into South Ossetia.

August 7, 2008 (23:15)

Clashes and shelling using grenade launchers and mortars began.

August 7, 2008 (23:15)

Georgian rocket systems started fire.

August 8, 2008 (00:20)

Heavy artillery joined the battle. Under cover of cannonade Georgian troops launched their attack towards eastern districts of Tskhinvali. Gen. M.Kurashvili, the Chief-of-Staff of Peacemaking Operations of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, announced to “Rustavi-2” TV that the Georgian side had decided “to restore the constitutional order” in the conflict zone.

August 8, 2008 (07:23)

Georgian aviation stroke goals in South Ossetia.Five SU-25 Frogfoot attack planes bombed the vicinity of Tkverneti. Moreover, the column with humanitarian aid from North Ossetia was bombed as well.

The same morning T.Yakobashvili announced that Tskhinvali is “almost encircled by Georgian units but we do not aim at destruction and casualties, so once again we offer the leaders of separatists to start direct negotiations about the cease-fire and normalization in the conflict zone”.

As a result of the Georgian night shelling a number of buildings at the Russian peacekeeping HQ in Tskhinvali were damaged. The building of the Parliament of the Republic of South Ossetia burnt, governmental buildings were destroyed, multi-store houses and other objects in the city center were set on fire. The Georgian column of tanks and infantry moved towards Tskhinvali.

At the Security Council session, Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin called on the council to intervene to stop violence in the region.

The Kremlin said Russia's leadership is also holding emergency talks on the conflict, and is considering urgent measures to end the violence.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev "is heading a meeting to discuss a series of urgent measures to stop the violence in South Ossetia, to protect the civilian population and Russian citizens in the conflict zone, considering that Russian peacekeepers have a mandate there, and to safeguard Russian interests in the region," the Kremlin press service said.

After reported Georgian attacks on Russian peacekeepers Deputy Interior Minister of Georgia Ms. Zguladze claimed at a briefing in Tbilisi that their troops “make every effort to protect peacekeepers”. Mr. Marat Kulakhmetov, Commander of Joint Peacekeeping Forces regarded this as an outrageous lie and an attempt to mislead the international public opinion. Colonel Igor Konashenkov, an aide to the Russian Ground Forces commander, said around 12 Russian peacekeepers have been killed and 30 wounded in the province since Georgia launched a major offensive overnight using tanks, combat aircraft, heavy artillery and infantry.

In the light of direct threat to lives of Russian citizens in South Ossetia in accordance with the right for self-defense in the framework of establishing a peace-enforcement operation which is allowed by the international law in the afternoon Russia sent reinforcements to South Ossetia in order to support its peacekeepers and protect the civilians.

August 8, 2008 (14:00)

Russian troops are approaching the capital of South Ossetia to help peacekeepers amid a spiraling conflict with Georgia, which tried to regain control of the region Friday, a top military spokesman said.

"Units of the 58th Army have set off to help Russian peacekeepers, they are approaching Tskhinvali," Konashenkov said. He said Georgian tanks are firing at the Russian peacekeeping headquarters.

"Georgian troops are shooting Russian peacekeepers and civilians at observation posts they have seized," he said. "Vicious fighting is going on in the area of Tskhinvali, where Georgian tanks are firing at the peacekeepers' headquarters and base from close by."

Earlier reports confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry said a convoy of Russian tanks and armored vehicles had entered Tskhinvali. Eyewitnesses said some 100 Russian tanks and armored vehicles crossed the Russian border.

Senior Russian lawmakers and officials earlier urged a military operation to end the violence as the Russian-led peacekeeping contingent was insufficient to ensure peace in the region.

And Russia's president and premier vowed retaliation for what they called "the Georgian aggression" and punishment for those who kill Russian nationals in South Ossetia.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered humanitarian aid be provided to those affected by the conflict, the Kremlin said Friday

August 9, 2008 (09:00)

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday that the country's troops have begun a military operation in South Ossetia to force Georgian troops to cease violence. Local authorities say numerous civilians were killed, and the Russian Defense Ministry says at least 12 Russian peacekeepers lost their lives in the onslaught.

"Our peacekeepers along with reinforcement units are currently conducting an operation to force the Georgian side to accept peace. They are also responsible for protecting the population," Medvedev told Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov in the Kremlin.

August 9, 2008 (14:00)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that 1,500 people have been killed in South Ossetia since the start of Georgia's attack on the republic.

More than 30,000 residents of South Ossetia have fled to neighboring Russia since the Georgian attack, the Russian government said earlier. Most residents of the province have Russian citizenship.

August 9, 2008 (16:00)

Russia's peacekeeping command said on Saturday the country's troops have driven Georgian forces from the capital of the separatist republic of South Ossetia. "Tskhinvali has been fully liberated," a spokesman said. South Ossetian Prime Minister Yury Morozov confirmed that the city is now under the control of Russian troops, but warned that the death toll may rise.

Chief of Government Staff Sergei Sobyanin told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting in the Kremlin earlier on Saturday that "a real humanitarian catastrophe" is developing. He told Russian TV channel Vesti-24 that thousands of people have been injured, and that numerous residents remain trapped under the rubble of bombed-out buildings, making it difficult to assess the number of fatalities.

August 9, 2008 (18:00)

The Russian President told his U.S. counterpart on Saturday that Russia's ongoing military operation in South Ossetia is aimed at forcing Georgia to stop its aggression and accept peace.

Medvedevwas quoted by the Kremlin as telling Bush: "Acting within our peacekeeping mission, and in line with the mandate issued by the international community, Russia is engaged in the task of forcing the Georgian side to accept peace, while defending the lives and property of its citizens, as is required under the Constitution and laws of the Russian Federation, and the legal standards of any civilized country”.

A senior Russian diplomat said on Saturday that the country may ask the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights to investigate war crimes committed by Georgia.

"I do not rule out that the Hague and Strasbourg courts and institutions in other cities will be involved in investigating these crimes, and this inhuman drama that has been played out," Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told news agencies in an interview broadcast on the Vesti-24 TV channel.

Russian peacekeepers "were killed by their own [Georgian] partners in the peacekeeping forces," he said.

"There is a Russian battalion, an Ossetian battalion, and a Georgian battalion... and all of a sudden the Georgians, Georgian peacekeepers, begin shooting their Russian colleagues. This is of course a war crime," Karasin said.

August 9, 2008 (19:00)

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Vladikavkaz, in Russia's republic of North Ossetia, Saturday to discuss assistance for South Ossetia following the outbreak of hostilities in the region.

Putin flew to North Ossetia, which borders the South Ossetian conflict zone, from the Beijing Olympics. He is due to meet with Emergency Situation Minister Sergei Shoigu, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov and North Ossetia's President Taimuraz Mamsurov to discuss the relief operation and humanitarian aid for the 30,000 South Ossetian refugees who have fled into Russia from the war-torn region since hostilities began on Friday morning.

Russia has sent humanitarian aid to the region, including transport planes containing medical specialists, a mobile field hospital and 16 tons of medical supplies as well as essential food supplies for South Ossetian refugees.

August 10, 2008 (09:00)

Russian peacekeepers in Georgia's breakaway republic of South Ossetia have denied Sunday's media reports claiming Georgia has withdrawn its forces from the province.

International media cited the Georgian Interior Ministry as saying Georgia had withdrawn its forces after three days of fighting, to prevent a humanitarian disaster.

"The peacekeeping contingent confirms the presence in the conflict zone of units and formations of the Georgian Defense Ministry. They are still in the conflict zone. That is, personnel, armaments, and military hardware of the Georgian army remain in the conflict zone," Vladimir Ivanov, an aide to the commander of the joint peacekeeping force, told reporters.

August 10, 2008 (12:00)

A group of ships from Russia's Black Sea Fleet including the flagship Moskva guided missile cruiser arrived on Sunday in the eastern part of the sea near the Georgian border, a high-ranking navy official said. "The purpose of the Black Sea Fleet vessels' presence in this region is to provide aid to refugees," the source in the Russian Navy's headquarters told RIA Novosti.

The source said the Moskva, accompanied by a patrol vessel and supply ships, travelled from the Russian naval base at Sevastopol in Ukraine's Crimea. The ships will join three large landing craft that earlier arrived in the area from Sevastopol and the Russian port of Novorossiysk. The source denied media reports saying the Russian fleet's warships were blockading the Georgian coast.

A spokesman for the president of Georgia's other breakaway republic, Abkhazia, earlier said the local administration and peacekeepers had asked Russia to reinforce its naval presence near the Abkhazian coast after Georgian warships attempted to approach the coastline.

August 10, 2008 (14:00)

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced on Sunday the government will provide $10 billion rubles ($420 million) in aid for South Ossetia after Georgia's military offensive largely destroyed the capital of the self-determined region.

Reporting on his visit to S.Ossetia to President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday, Putin said: "Speaking of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali's residential housing, and border villages, everything has been virtually destroyed, to put it mildly. People are going to need help to return to their homes, and to rebuild their houses and apartments." Putin described the destruction as "colossal" and said Russia would allocate at least 10 billion rubles for rehabilitation in South Ossetia.

South Ossetia's envoy to Russia, Dmitry Medoyev, earlier told RIA Novosti that Tskhinvali had "been razed to the ground."

August 10, 2008 (16:00)

Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili earlier said Georgian forces had fully withdrawn from South Ossetia.

A spokesman for the peacekeeping command told RIA Novosti: "This statement is a lie, just like [Georgian President Mikheil] Saakashvili's statement on the impossibility of using military force in conflict zones." At a meeting with refugees at a makeshift hospital camp in Alagir on Saturday, eyewitnesses told the Russian premier how Georgian troops had set fire to a house with several young women inside. "They were rounded up like cattle, shut into the house, and set on fire. In another place, we saw a tank run over an old woman who was running away with two children. We saw how they slashed up an 18-month child," a refugee said. Putin told the gathering: "This is full-scale genocide... They have completely lost their minds."

Speaking at a conference in the North Ossetian city of Vladikavkaz, Putin called Georgia's actions "a crime first and foremost against their own people."

Russia's retaliation is "absolutely justified and legitimate from a legal point of view," he said.

August 10, 2008 (18:00)

Negotiations with Georgia will only be possible once the South Caucasus state signs a ceasefire agreement, a Russian deputy foreign minister said on Sunday.

"As the events at the start of August have showed, verbal statements by Georgian leaders cannot be trusted. A commitment not to use force is what Russia and the international community has insisted on over the past few years while Georgia has used various pretexts to reject it. Without this obligation being set, there can be no negotiations with Georgia," Grigory Karasin said.

According to Karasin, talks on a peaceful settlement on the South Ossetian situation are only possible if Georgian troops withdraw to their positions prior to the start of their offensive and if Tbilisi announces it will cease to use force.

August 11, 2008 (10:00)

Sea links between Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi and Russia's Sochi have been cut, the deputy head of the Russian Black Sea port said on Monday.

"We have temporarily suspended sea links with the port of Batumi. According to the information at our disposal, the port of Batumi is closed," Simon Mamaladze said.

Russia's Transport Ministry said earlier that air links with Georgia, had been suspended from August 9.

August 11, 2008 (14:00)

The mains water supply has been restored in South Ossetia's capital of Tskhinvali, the administration of the violence-torn region said on Monday.

A spokesman said the evacuation of residents, thousands of whom have fled across the border to Russia since the start of Georgia's ground and air offensive three days ago, is continuing.

"We are evacuating people not because of armed hostilities - everything is under our control - but because the city is destroyed and its residents have nowhere to spend the night. They have nothing to eat or drink," he said.

He said South Ossetian soldiers and Russian peacekeepers have taken full control over Tskhinvali and surrounding villages.

South Ossetia's Press and Information said earlier on Monday Georgian forces had blown up a water treatment plant in Tskhinvali. Cellars in the western part of Tskhinvali, where civilians had taken shelter from the fighting, were subsequently flooded.

August 11, 2008 (16:00)

Georgian troops have been surrounded in South Ossetia and are giving themselves up, a senior Russian military official said on Monday.

"Russian troops are currently disarming the surrounded Georgian forces in South Ossetia," Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy Chief of the General Staff, told a news conference.

Russian troops are currently forcing all Georgian troops out of Georgian-populated villages in the east and west of South Ossetia, he said.

Nogovitsynalso said two more Russian military aircraft have been downed in the conflict zone in the past 24 hours, bringing the Air Force's overall losses to four aircraft. He said Russia has gained full control over Georgian airspace, and is preventing all flights by Georgian combat aircraft.

"We have eliminated the possibility of an aerial threat from Georgia in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone," Nogovitsyn said.

He denied Georgian claims that Russian warplanes have targeted Georgian oil pipelines in bombing raids, in particular the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, which pumps crude oil from the Caspian to Europe.

"We did not bomb Georgia's oil pipelines. If we had done this, oil spills and possible oil fires could have led to a regional environmental disaster," Nogovitsyn said.

The general also denied reports that Russia had dropped bombs on Tbilisi's international airport or any other civilian targets, but admitted to an attack on a radar facility.

August 11, 2008 (18:00)

U.S. military aircraft have flown 800 Georgian troops and a number of armored vehicles back home from Iraq amid an armed conflict in South Ossetia, a senior Russian military official said on Monday.

NBC reported on Monday that U.S. military transport planes had started to bring all the Georgian troops deployed in Iraq back home.

"U.S. aircraft have made eight flights to bring Georgian troops home from Iraq," Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn said.

Nogovitsynpledged to take adequate measures. "We are ready to increase our forces in view of the relocation of Georgian troops." He said following Russia's deployment of 58th Army units to supplement its peacekeepers in South Ossetia, Georgian and Russian troop numbers in the conflict zone were around the same.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the U.S., which has backed Georgia's NATO membership aspirations, is hampering the peacekeeping operation in South Ossetia by flying the Georgian troops from Iraq to Georgia.

"It's a pity that some of our partners instead of helping are trying to get in the way, I mean the United States using its military transport aircraft to relocate Georgia's military contingent from Iraq virtually into the conflict zone, among other things," Putin said during a government meeting.

Putin said pulling Georgian troops out of Iraq would not change the situation, but called the move a "step back from a settlement."

He said he was astonished by the double standards and cynicism of U.S. foreign policy and accused U.S. diplomats of retaining a Cold-War mentality, labeling aggressor the victim while the real victim ends up being blamed as the aggressor.

"Of course, it was right that Saddam Hussein was hanged for butchering several Shia villages, while the current Georgian rulers, who wiped out ten Ossetian villages in no time and burnt people alive in their homes, must be protected," Putin said sarcastically.

August 11, 2008 (19:00)

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained 10 Georgian intelligence service officers who were preparing terrorist attacks, including in Russia, the head of the security service Alexander Bortnikov said at a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

As a result of the developing situation Bortnikov ordered the FSB, the Border Guard Service and the National Anti-Terrorism Committee to take measures to tighten border security in Russia's Southern Federal District.

Human Rights Watch called western media coverage of the events in South Ossetia as “propaganda and disinformation”.

August 12, 2008

President Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting with the defense minister and General Staff chief that he had ordered an end to the 'peace enforcement' operation in Georgia, after five days of fighting. "I have made a decision to end the operation to force Georgian authorities to peace," Medvedev said. "The operation has achieved its goal, security for peacekeepers and civilians has been restored. The aggressor was punished, suffering huge losses," he said. However, he warned Russia would be ready to respond if Georgia attacks again. A senior Russian military official said on Tuesday that Russia could withdraw part of its troops sent into the region to help peacekeepers if Tbilisi observes the ceasefire.

Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy head of the General Staff, also said Georgian troops were currently retreating from South Ossetia. He said Georgia had about three infantry brigades, one artillery and three antitank brigades in the region as of Tuesday.

2. RUSSIAN EFFORTS TO ADDRESS HUMANITARIAN CRISES IN SOUTH OSSETIA

From the beginning of the hostilities in South Ossetia Russian Federation took necessary steps to improve the humanitarian situation in the Republic.

On August 9, 2008 Russian government sent a humanitarian aid convoy from Russia's North Ossetian city of Vladikavkaz to Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, the Emergency Situation Minister said on Sunday.

"Tomorrow we will send 200 tons of food, 16 tons of medical supplies, six electricity generators and water filters," Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting in North Ossetia. He also said that a mobile hospital would be sent to South Ossetia. Earlier the Emergency Situations Ministry sent 30 trucks containing 120 tons of food supplies to Tskhinvali and North Ossetia.

Two aeromobile hospitals were deployed in the Northern Ossetia, the doctors made more than

44 surgical operations.The group of doctors, which composed of 25 medic experts, has arrived from Moscow in Vladikavkaz capital of the Northern Ossetia for rendering medical aid to the refugees from Ossetia.

On August 10, 2008 120 tons of food, including meat and fish tinned, buckwheat, babyfoodhas been sent for inhabitants of the South Ossetia.

On August 11, 2008 Russian humanitarian aid convoy entered South Ossetia's capital of Tskhinvali, devastated after major ground and air attacks launched by Georgia to seize control of the rebel republic. "The first cargo with humanitarian aid has arrived at its destination," a source in the Russian Federal Reserve Agency said. The convoy of 80 vehicles, accompanied by several armored personal carriers, has brought medical supplies, food, generators and other essentials to the capital of the republic.

Russia has sent 41 generators and 226 metric tons of food supplies, 39 tons of medical supplies, 23 water filters to South Ossetia, the source in the federal agency said, and admitted that more humanitarian aid could be sent to the region, including tinned meat and fish, buckwheat, baby food.

In the hospitals which located in various Russian regions has been created 2700 new places for wounded population.

PavelPlat, a chief military expert at Russia's emergencies ministry, said mobile hospitals delivered by the convoy already started treating their first patients today. Work will also be carried out on Tskhinvali's hospital, which was almost completely destroyed by Georgian bombs, he said. Over a hundred injured people are currently being treated in makeshift wards in the hospital's cellars.

Tskhinvali, which had a pre-war population of around 30,000, will also receive tents capable of housing 500 people, Plat said.

The heads of a number of Russian universities (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Voronezh) are ready to accept students from South Ossetia, Russian Education Minister Andrei Fursenko said. "A number of regions have proposed using their facilities to house and teach South Ossetian young people," Fursenko said, describing the situation in Georgia's region as a humanitarian catastrophe. The minister added that Russian authorities would also discuss a longer-term plan for supporting and restoring educational establishments in South Ossetia.

Russia has also sent around seventy 20-seater mini buses to South Ossetia to evacuate people from the region.

On August 12, 2008 6 operation-rooms and airmobile hospital for 200 places, 500 tents for refugees whom lost housing habitation, 150 tons food has been sent to South Ossetia.

Russia's government has allocated $200 million in urgent aid for the South Ossetia, to address a growing humanitarian catastrophe in this republic.

The South Ossetia will next year receive $400 million from Russia in reconstruction aid.

Population of various regions of Russia arecollecting the humanitarian aid for refugees from South Ossetia. The Moscow region will send humanitarian aid of 35-40 million rubles, including food, medicines and clothes. The Stavropol and Orenburg regions will send to South Ossetia building materials and food. Kalmykia and Krasnoyarsk regions are collecting financial aid. The Krasnodar region has accepted 300 refugees from South Ossetia including 180 children. The Rostov region has given 13 buses for transfer of refugees from South Ossetia in the Rostov region.