UN: Georgia Sparked War With Russia
But report hardly leaves Russia blameless in 2008 clash
Updated 11:00 AM EST, Wed, Sep 30, 2009
Georgia started it.
A United Nations report blames Georgia for provoking last summer's war with Russia, even though the report doesn't completely absolve Russia. Russia had already massed troops in South Ossetia, a disputed territory within Georgia, when Georgia shelled the city, the report said.
That may have sparked the war that left 850 dead and 100,000 homeless, but Russia reacted with a heavy hand, the report said. For one thing, Russia extending its invasion well beyond South Ossetia, and backed an attack in Abkhazia, where Georgia hadn't intervened.
The report backed the U.S. position that South Osetia, whose population is largely sympathetic to Russsia, has no right to secede from Georgia.
Get more: The Wall Street Journal
First Published: Sep 30, 2009 9:53 AM EST
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