2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea
In the fifty-sixth minute, New Zealand returned to their try-scoring ways when Isaac Luke ran from dummy half thirty-seven metres out from Papua New Guinea's line and evaded a few defenders to score. Inu, however, missed the simple conversion. The Kiwis crossed again in the fifty-ninth minute from close range, Fa'alogo receiving a short ball from Fien and barging over the line. Isaac Luke missed the conversion so the score was 30–6 with a quarter of the match remaining.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea
Less than ten minutes later, Adam Blair scored in the same spot, taking a short ball from dummy half Leuluai at close range and crashing over. Inu, making a return to the goal-kicking job, successfully converted the try. In the seventy-first minute, New Zealand were attacking again when Luke kicked high and to the left wing. Inu leapt for it but couldn't catch the ball and it ricocheted off the PNG defence before coming down for Sam Perrett to regather and ground.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea
After examination by the video referee of a possible New Zealand knock on, the try was awarded due to the benefit of the doubt. Inu's conversion attempt was successful, bringing the score to 42–6. The Kiwis got one more try in the match when Greg Eastwood ran the ball from over thirty metres out, stepping and brushing past some defenders to score under the posts. The extras were kicked by Inu, leaving the final score at 48–6.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea
The loss for Papua New Guinea effectively ended their hopes of making the semi-finals, now requiring a win over Australia by an enormous margin to do so.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
The last time the New Zealand and England sides met was in the semi-final of the 2000 World Cup, with the Kiwis winning 49 to 6. So far in this tournament both sides had defeated Papua New Guinea and lost to Australia.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
Changes to the New Zealand side were: Jason Nightingale in for Sam Perrett on the right wing; Steve Matai, after serving his one-match suspension, regained his place at right centre from Krisnan Inu; Evarn Tuimivave replaced Nathan Cayless in the front row (with Benji Marshall being named captain); David Fa'alogo was moved from the bench into Setaimata Sa's spot in the second row; Sam Rapira was dropped with David Kidwell and Bronson Harrison added to the bench.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
England were the first to score after getting repeat sets which took them down close to New Zealand's line where hooker Mickey Higham pushed through the defence from dummy half in the 4th minute. The simple conversion was kicked by Rob Purdham so the score was 6 nil. Less than 4 minutes later England were working the ball out from their own 10-metre line when they decided to pass out wide to their centre Keith Senior, who beat the defence and raced down along the left wing.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
He then passed back inside for Rob Burrow running up in support and the diminutive halfback was away for England's second try. Purdham's conversion was successful so England were in front 12 nil with under ten minutes of the match gone. However New Zealand struck back just on 13 minutes after a break made by centre Jerome Ropati from a scrum win mid-field afforded Manu Vatuvei a run at the disorganised defence from within ten metres, the giant winger barging his way over for his first try of the tournament.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
The conversion attempt by Steve Matai was wide, so the score remained 12 - 4 in favour of England. At the sixteen-minute mark from a scrum win the English stand-off, Martin Gleeson made a sudden break from 30 metres out and was into open space, his run good enough for the momentum to drag him and his tackler over the try-line. The video referee awarded the four points and Purdham kicked the extra two so England's lead was pushed out to 18 - 4.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
In the 20th minute, the Kiwis were down close to the English try-line when New Zealand fullback Lance Hohaia dummied and stepped his way through the defensive line and fought his way through his tacklers to force the ball down, the video referee awarding the try after some deliberation. The kick from Matai missed so the score was 18 - 8 with three quarters of the match still remaining.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
Six minutes later, England were back deep in New Zealand's territory when Burrow at first-receiver and on the last tackle stepped and dashed through the defence to score his second try of the night. Purdham's conversion put the score at England 24, New Zealand 8. A few minutes later play was halted while Kiwi centre Steve Matai was taken from the field after falling into a tackle awkwardly and injuring his neck.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
New Zealand, ten metres into England's half and before the first tackle of a new set of six, offloaded from some tackles and kept the ball alive before sending it out to Jason Nightingale on the right wing where he dived over in the corner. Isaac Luke was given the sideline conversion attempt and kicked it, putting New Zealand back in the contest at 24 - 14, with three minutes of the first half remaining. No more points were scored before the break.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
In the 47th minute, New Zealand were on the attack and were the first to score in the second half when a long pass from Hohaia out to Vatuvei saw him dive over untouched in the left corner for his second try of the match. The video referee awarded the try and Luke's sideline conversion attempt was wide, so the score was New Zealand 18, England 24. The Kiwi's then continued dominating possession and field position and in the 55th minute Vatuvei scored his 3rd, again diving over untouched in the corner after receiving a long ball from Hohaia.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
Once more Luke had to kick for goal from the sideline and this time was successful so the scores were level at 24 all. In the 69th minute, Luke gained his team a penalty when he was given a push by an England player while running in to contest a bomb and fell to the ground. The Kiwis decided to take the kick from in front of the posts and Luke got the two points which put New Zealand in the lead for the first time at 26 - 24.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
New Zealand were attacking England's line again in the 75th minute when an English defender fumbled an intercept chance and from the confusion Nathan Fein, who was playing on despite a broken nose, picked up the ball and crashed over. The try was awarded by the video referee and the conversion was kicked by Jeremy Smith, so New Zealand led 32 to 24 with 5 minutes of the match remaining.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
The Kiwis got one more try, again from Lance Hohaia throwing a long ball out to Manu Vatuvei to cross untouched on the left wing once more, his fourth try for the night. Benji Marshall took the sideline conversion attempt and missed, but the game was already beyond doubt, with New Zealand winning 36 - 24.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs New Zealand
Manu Vatuvei's four tries saw him break the record of three previously held by Robbie Paul and Lesley Vainikolo for most tries in a World Cup match by a New Zealand player.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs Papua New Guinea
The last time these two teams had met was in 2001 at Port Moresby when Australia defeated Papua New Guinea by 42 points, and it was their first World Cup match since 1992. Papua New Guinea's place in the tournament was at stake, with a win by more than 2 points required. The Kangaroos' undefeated run so far had guaranteed their place in the play-offs so they could afford to experiment with the player lineup for this match. Captain Darren Lockyer and star fullback Billy Slater were rested while four of the Australians were to make their international debuts: Terry Campese taking Lockyer's place at five-eighth, Darius Boyd, David Williams and Anthony Watmough. Karmichael Hunt took Slater's place at fullback.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs Papua New Guinea
Australia opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Johnathan Thurston kicked across-field from close range for winger David Williams, making his international debut, to leap for and score in the right corner. Thurston then converted the try so the score was 6 nil. Just over two minutes later Williams crossed in the corner again after receiving a long ball from Karmichal Hunt which was ruled to be forward, so no try was given. Terry Campese, making his debut for Australia was forced to leave the field after receiving a poke in the eye.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs Papua New Guinea
Australia were attacking close to PNG's line again in the twenty-second minute when the ball was moved out to the other wing where Joel Monaghan forced his way over. The video referee ruled that he'd got the ball down, and after Thurston's second successful kick from near the sideline, this time the left one, the score was 12 nil in favour of the Kangaroos. Less than three minutes later, Australia were again up on the Kumuls' line when quick hands got the ball out to Monaghan and he dived over in the corner untouched for his second try.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs Papua New Guinea
Thurston's kicking accuracy from difficult angles continued so The Kangaroos had 18 unanswered points. Slick passing before PNG's line resulted in Australia's fourth try as well, this time out to the right for David Williams to cross untouched. Thurston missed his fourth sideline conversion of the night, so the score was 22 nil with three minutes of the first half remaining. No more points were scored before the break.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs Papua New Guinea
After holding out Australia's first raid on their line successfully, Papua New Guinea were about to start working their way back up the field when they conceded an easy try to Scott Prince who rushed up to intercept a Stanley Gene pass to score under the posts. Thurston's kick was simple so the score was 28 nil after forty-three minutes. Ten minutes later Australia scored again after keeping the ball alive close to the Kumuls' line, Prince crossing untouched again for his second try.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs Papua New Guinea
Thurston again kicked the extra two points so the score was 34 nil with twenty-five minutes of the match remaining. In the seventieth minute the Australians, while in their own half, moved the ball out to the right where Williams got it and ran forty metres to score his third try. In doing so he became only the third Kangaroo since Lionel Morgan in 1960 and Brad Mackay in 1990 to score a hat-trick on debut for Australia. Thurston kicked another sideline conversion so it was 40 nil. Papua New Guinea's kick-off was short and they successfully regained the ball.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs Papua New Guinea
After working their way up into an attacking position close to the Kangaroos' try-line, Ron Griffin put in the perfect grubber kick behind the defence for Menzie Yere to run through and dive on. Wiltshere converted successfully so the score was 40 - 6 in favour of the home side. Australia scored one more try a few minutes later when Anthony Tupou ran onto a short pass from close range to put the ball down behind the posts. Thurston's kick made the final score 46 - 6.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs Papua New Guinea
The match was the last international for Stanley Gene, the only player to have played in the last three World Cups, who was chaired from the field by his teammates.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Final standings
All teams from group A (shaded in green) with the exception of the bottom qualifying team will progress to the semi-finals, the other two groups the top finisher will progress to a playoff match, in which the winner will qualify to the semi-finals. Australia were the only team in the tournament to play all their group stage matches with no losses.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group B
2008 Rugby League World Cup Group B was one of the three groups of teams that competed in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Group B consisted of three teams: Fiji, Scotland and France. After all teams played had each other once, only Fiji advanced to 2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group B, Final standings
In the 2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage Fiji played in the qualifying final while Scotland and France played for 7th and 9th place respectively.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group C
2008 Rugby League World Cup Group C was one of the three groups of teams that competed in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup tournament's group stage. Group C consisted of three teams: Ireland, Tonga and Samoa. After all teams played had each other once, only Ireland advanced to 2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group C, Group C, Final standings
In the 2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage Ireland played in the qualifying final while Tonga and Samoa played for 7th and 9th place respectively.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage took place after the Group stage of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup and culminated in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup Final


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, 7th-place playoff, Scotland vs Tonga
This was the lowest-attended match of the tournament, however it was filled to capacity for a ground that had never seen top-level rugby league before.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-final qualifier, Fiji vs Ireland
Fiji and Ireland, who had finished at the top of their respective groups, faced off at Queensland's Gold Coast. At stake was the chance to play Australia in the semi-final. Fiji had lost prop Iowane Divavesi to a two-match ban for tripping just hours before the match.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-final qualifier, Fiji vs Ireland
Amhrán na bhFiann was performed as the Ireland team's national anthem before the match. Fiji opened the scoring early with their captain Wes Naiqama from the half way line finding space down the right side of the field and scoring on the 2-minute mark. He then converted his own try so the score was 6 nil. About 5 minutes later Ireland responded with their own 50-metre runaway try down the right side thanks to winger Damien Blanch. Pat Richards kicked the extras so the scores were level at 6 all.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-final qualifier, Fiji vs Ireland
In the 25th minute Fiji were penalised just over 40 metres out from their own line and the Irish decided to take the shot at goal. Richards' attempt went wide so the score remained unchanged. Fiji scored again about 5 minutes later when from close-range, Akuila Uate ran from dummy half on his wing infield to find a gap in the defence and score near the uprights. Naiqama's conversion was successful so Fiji led 12 - 6.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-final qualifier, Fiji vs Ireland
It was Ireland's turn to score again and they did so in the 46th minute when from within Fiji's 10-metre line, captain Scott Grix decided to run from first receiver, charging through a gap and getting the ball down. Richards' kick to level the scores hit the upright and missed, so Fiji remained two points ahead at 12 - 10 and this was the score until half-time.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-final qualifier, Fiji vs Ireland
About a minute into the second half Fiji were up at their opponents' try-line when hooker James Storer ran from dummy half and crashed over but was held up by the defence. After repeated raids on the Irish try-line and despite some enormous drop-outs from Pat Richards, Fiji kept on coming and scored just on 55 minutes, when from close range Jason Bukuya found a gap in the defence and reached out to plant the ball down. Naiqama's conversion was successful so Fiji led 18 - 10.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-final qualifier, Fiji vs Ireland
A few minutes later Fiji were again down close to Ireland's try-line when they got a penalty for a ruck infringement. Naiqama decided to take the shot at goal and didn't miss, so the score was 20 - 10 in favour of Fiji with seventeen minutes left on the clock. Ireland continued to be under siege and 10 metres out from their line, Fiji's halfback Aaron Groom stabbed a kick in behind the defence for Jarryd Hayne to chase and put down after clipping one of the uprights in his haste in the 66th minute.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-final qualifier, Fiji vs Ireland
The video referee awarded the try and Naiqama kicked the simple conversion so Fiji had a comfortable lead at 26 - 10. Ten minutes later Fiji scored again after continuing to attack Ireland's line, this time Uate crossing out wide on the right wing. Naiqama's kick from the sideline hit the upright and missed, so with just over 5 minutes of the game remaining, the score was 30 - 10.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-final qualifier, Fiji vs Ireland
Ireland got one more chance to attack Fiji's line in the closing minutes and it was Blanch who scored for them again, benefiting from a good offload from Lee Doran close to the try-line. Richards missed the conversion attempt so the final score was Fiji 30, Ireland 14. The Bati would play Australia next, with the winner of that match going to the World Cup Final, while the Irish exited the tournament with A$75,000 prize money.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, New Zealand vs England
In a re-play of both sides' last match, New Zealand once again faced England, this time for the right to play in the World Cup final. English coach Tony Smith left it to within an hour of kick-off before naming his team for the match. Kevin Sinfield was dropped from his position on the bench. Ben Westwood was promoted from the bench to the run-on side. For New Zealand Jason Nightingale was replaced by Sam Perrett. Sika Manu's faster than expected recovery from an eye socket injury saw his return with David Kidwell dropped in his place.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, New Zealand vs England
No British side had won a test match in Brisbane since Wales had defeated England at Lang Park during the 1975 World Cup. New Zealand had lost their last 8 international matches in the city.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, New Zealand vs England
This time when the Kiwis performed their haka, the England side stood in a line ten metres away and faced them.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, New Zealand vs England
In the ninth minute New Zealand were on the attack courtesy of a mistake from England and got the first try of the match, passing to Sam Perrett on the right wing who crossed out wide, then improved his kicker's position before putting the ball down. Jeremy Smith's conversion was successful so England trailed 6–nil. England, also benefitting from some New Zealand mistakes, were attacking the Kiwis' line and threw the ball out wide to the right wing as well and Ade Gardner dived over in the corner just before the fifteen-minute mark.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, New Zealand vs England
The video referee showed that Gardner's toe touched the sideline before he grounded the ball so the try was not given. Four minutes later the Kiwis were back down at England's end when Lance Hohaia got over for a close-range try. Smith's kick went wide so the score was 10–nil in favour of New Zealand with a quarter of the match gone. Rob Purdham's restart kick went over the sideline on the full so New Zealand got the ball back and in the following set of six they scored again through Jerome Ropati.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, New Zealand vs England
Smith's kick was good this time, so the Kiwis had 16 unanswered points. Then in the twenty-ninth minute England had an opportunity in attack down at New Zealand's end and kept the ball alive, the ball going to captain Jamie Peacock who forced his way over from close range. Purdham missed the conversion attempt so the score remained 16–4 in favour of the Kiwis. A New Zealand knock-on less than two minutes from half time saw the English get a scrum a few metres into the opposition's half.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, New Zealand vs England
In a bold set move from the scrum base, England's loose forward Purdham broke away with the ball and immediately kicked it ahead for Danny Maguire racing through to regather and dive over by the goal posts. The video referee ruled that the chaser was only just in line with the kicker so the try was awarded. Rob Burrow was given the conversion attempt and kicked it, so England were back within a converted try at 16–10 at the half-time break.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, New Zealand vs England
After a few minutes of the second half, England second-rower Gareth Ellis was forced from the field with a rib injury. Both sides had attacking opportunities during the first 16 minutes of the half, but it was New Zealand's Bronson Harrison who scored first after receiving a good short ball from halfback Nathan Fien on England's twenty metre line which saw him cut through the defence, step past the fullback and score by the uprights. Smith's conversion meant the score was New Zealand 22, England 10 with twenty-two minutes of the match remaining.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, New Zealand vs England
After a bomb from England which Hohaia failed to take securely, England were on the attack again. They moved the ball out through the hands to the right, and centre Martin Gleeseon dragged himself through the defence to reach out and score in the sixty-first minute. Burrow kicked the sideline conversion so England were back within a converted try of New Zealand at 22–16.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, New Zealand vs England
The Kiwis then got repeat sets down near England's line and were the next to score: Fien kicked the ball over towards the goal posts and as it came down in-goal two English defenders failed to secure it and Jerome Ropati was there to fall onto it. Benji Marshall was given the conversion this time and kicked it successfully so the score was 28–16 with ten minutes to go. Three minutes later England gave themselves a glimmer of hope when Maguire found space between New Zealand's defence and ran through it from fifteen metres out to score by the posts.


2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, New Zealand vs England
Burrow's conversion meant that England were back within six points with six minutes of the game left to go. However the English were let down by further handling errors and New Zealand were the last to score after England again failed to defend against a bomb out to the left, Marshall putting it down in the corner at the seventy-eighth minute, placing the game beyond doubt. Smith missed the sideline conversion so the final score was 32–22. England then went home with A$130,000 prize money and New Zealand had booked a place in the final the following week.


2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying
2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying matches took place from April 2006 to November 2007. Of the ten teams to compete in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, five of them qualified based on their performance in these matches. The other five teams had qualified automatically.


2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying, Qualified teams
6 Asian-Pacific teams qualified for the World Cup; 3 qualified automatically, with the top 2 in the Pacific qualifying group also reaching the finals. Samoa finished third in the Pacific qualifying group and earned a qualification spot by winning the repechage. 4 European teams qualified for the World Cup. 2 qualified automatically, with a further 2 finals berths for the winner of each European qualifying group. No teams from the Atlantic qualifying group reached the finals, with the USA losing at the repechage semi-final stage.


2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying, Continental qualifying, Europe
Group BIn early 2011 Ireland and Lebanon's two draws, which involved Ryan Tandy and Jai Ayoub, became subject to police investigation as the two had been connected to match-fixing.


2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying, Continental qualifying, Atlantic
Originally the USA, Japan, South Africa and West Indies were going to compete in a fourway tournament at Bernie Robbins Stadium, Atlantic City from 21–28 October. However the West Indies and South Africa withdrew and so a one-off match was played between Japan and the USA.


2008 Rugby League World Cup squads
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup featured the national teams (selected from twenty-four-man squads) of ten nations: Australia, England, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, France, Scotland, Ireland, Samoa, and Tonga.


2008 Rugby League World Cup squads, Pool A, Australia
Head coach: Ricky Stuart Assistant coaches: John Cartwright and Allan Langer


2008 Rugby League World Cup squads, Pool A, Australia
1 Replaced originally selected Brett Stewart and Justin Hodges who withdrew on 16 October.


2008 Rugby League World Cup squads, Pool A, Australia
2 Replaced originally selected Michael Crocker who withdrew due to injury on 9 October.


2008 Rugby League World Cup squads, Pool A, New Zealand
1 Replaced originally named Iosia Soliola who withdrew due to injury on 21 October.


2008 Rugby League World Cup squads, Pool A, New Zealand
2 Replaced originally named Brent Webb and Jeff Lima who withdrew due to injury on 7 October.


2008 Rugby League World Cup squads, Pool B, Scotland
Except for Edinburgh Eagles stand-off Paddy Couper, all of the Scottish team's players were selected under the grandparent rule.


2008 Rugby League World Cup squads, Welcome to Country
As part of the official opening of the World Cup on 26 October, an exhibition game was played between an Aboriginal selection and a New Zealand Māori side.


2008 Runnymede Borough Council election
Elections to Runnymede Council were held on 1 May 2008. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2008 Runnymede Borough Council election
Three councillors had resigned from the council before the election and a further two did not stand for re-election. No seats changed hands with the Conservative party remaining dominant on the council.


2008 Rushmoor Borough Council election
The 2008 Rushmoor Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Rushmoor Borough Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2008 Rushmoor Borough Council election, Campaign
Before the election the Conservatives held 26 seats, the Liberal Democrats 7, Labour 6 and a further 3 vacant. 15 seats were up for election with 2 seats in St Johns ward being contested after the death of Conservative councillor Graham Tucker. The other 2 vacant seats were in Cove and Southwood, and Empress wards, where Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors respectively stood down at the election.


2008 Rushmoor Borough Council election, Campaign
50 candidates were standing including 4 from the British National Party and 1 from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party as well as candidates from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour parties. The candidates included a 19-year-old Conservative in Heron Wood ward who was hoping to become the youngest ever councillor in Rushmoor.


2008 Rushmoor Borough Council election, Campaign
Issues in the election included local developments, an increase in flights at Farnborough Airfield, the recent trial of alternate weekly rubbish collection, anti-social behaviour, spending cuts and councillors' expenses.


2008 Rushmoor Borough Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives stay in control of the council with 29 seats compared to 8 for the Liberal Democrats and 5 Labour. The Conservatives gained two seats from the Liberal Democrats in Cove and Southwood and West Heath wards to increase their majority. However the Liberal Democrats did take one seat back in St Marks ward defeating the Conservative councillor for the previous 10 years Nigel Baines. Meanwhile, in Heron Wood ward the Liberal Democrats gained a seat in Aldershot for the first time since 2006 after defeating the sitting Labour councillor. Labour easily held their only other seat in North Town, while narrowly failed to gain Wellington from the Conservatives by 50 votes; however Labour came last in all 9 wards in Farnborough.


2008 Rushmoor Borough Council election, Election result
Overall turnout was down from the 2007 election at 33.7% with the lowest turnout in Wellington ward at 19.8%. Following the election the Liberal Democrats elected a new group leader with Sue Gadsby taking over from Craig Card who had been party leader for the previous 9 years.


2008 Russian Figure Skating Championships
The 2008 Russian Figure Skating Championships (Russian: Чемпионат России по фигурному катанию на коньках 2008) took place between 3 and 7 January 2008 at the Ice Palace in Saint Petersburg. Skaters competed at the senior level in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.


2008 Russian Figure Skating Championships
The event was used as one of the criteria to help determine the team for the 2008 European Championships.


2008 Russian Figure Skating Championships, Junior results
The 2008 Russian Junior Championships were held in Rostov-on-Don from 30 January through 2 February 2008. The event was among the criteria used to choose the team for the 2008 World Junior Championships.


2008 Russian First Division
The Russian First Division 2008 was the 17th edition of Russian First Division. There were 22 teams.


2008 Russian First Division, Teams
15 clubs placed 3–17 in 2007 Russian First Division, 2 clubs relegated from 2007 Russian Premier League and 5 zone winners from Russian Second Division 2007 took part in the league:


2008 Russian First Division, Teams
On 23 October 2008 FC Zvezda Irkutsk had to stop participation in the league due to lack of funds, their main sponsor Interavia airlines is having financial problems at the time. Zvezda failed to fulfil four last fixtures.


2008 Russian Premier League
The Russian Premier League 2008 was the 17th edition of the Russian Football Championship, and the seventh under the current Russian Premier League name. The season started on Friday, 14 March 2008 with a match between Terek and Krylia Sovetov in Grozny. Krylia Sovetov won 3–0. The first goal of the season was scored by Krylia Sovetov's forward Yevgeny Savin.


2008 Russian Premier League
Due to Russia's participation in UEFA Euro 2008, the season was interrupted from 16 May until 5 July.


2008 Russian Premier League
The champions were determined on the 27th matchday, 2 November 2008. Rubin claimed their first championship title in Russian Premier League, defeating Saturn 2–1 away, with Savo Milošević scoring in the 89th minute to claim the title for his club. Rubin became the third (and second consecutive) non-Moscow club to become Russian champions.


2008 Russian Premier League
The last round of matches was played on 22 November 2008.


2008 Russian Premier League, Teams
As in the previous season, 16 teams played in the 2008 season. After the 2007 season, Kuban Krasnodar and Rostov were relegated to the 2008 Russian First Division. They were replaced by Shinnik Yaroslavl and Terek Grozny, the winners and runners up of the 2007 Russian First Division.


2008 Russian Premier League, Awards
On 16 December 2008 Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:


2008 Russian Premier League, Medal squads
Goalkeepers: Sergei Ryzhikov (26), Sergei Kozko (6). Defenders: Cristian Ansaldi  (27 / 1), Roman Sharonov (26 / 1), Dato Kvirkvelia  (24 / 3), Stjepan Tomas  (19), Lasha Salukvadze  (15), Aleksandr Orekhov (10), Aleksei Popov (7), Jefthon  (2), Andrei Fyodorov  (1), Gabriel Atz  (1). Midfielders: Gökdeniz Karadeniz  (27 / 6), Sergei Semak (27 / 5), MacBeth Sibaya  (25), Serhiy Rebrov  (24 / 5), Aleksandr Ryazantsev (22 / 1), Christian Noboa  (21 / 6), Andrei Kobenko (17 / 2), Yevgeni Balyaikin (10), Aleksei Rebko (3), Vagiz Galiullin  (1), Pyotr Gitselov  (1). Forwards: Hasan Kabze  (23 / 2), Aleksandr Bukharov (20 / 6), Roman Adamov (13 / 1), Savo Milošević  (16 / 3). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets)


2008 Russian Premier League, Medal squads
Transferred out during the season: Gabriel Atz  (on loan to FC Khimki), Pyotr Gitselov  (on loan to FC Rostov), Aleksei Rebko (to FC Moscow).


2008 Russian Premier League, Medal squads
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (30). Defenders: Sergei Ignashevich (28 / 4), Vasili Berezutski (28), Aleksei Berezutski (24 / 2), Deividas Šemberas  (24), Chidi Odiah  (23), Anton Grigoryev (16). Midfielders: Miloš Krasić  (28 / 6), Yuri Zhirkov (28 / 3), Evgeni Aldonin (25 / 3), Elvir Rahimić  (23), Alan Dzagoev (20 / 8), Caner Erkin  (18 / 1), Pavel Mamayev (17 / 2), Dudu  (10 / 1), Luboš Kalouda  (1). Forwards: Vágner Love  (26 / 20), Ricardo Jesus  (10), Jô  (8 / 3), Dmitri Ryzhov (8), Ramón  (7), Daniel Carvalho  (4), Dawid Janczyk  (4). Manager: Valery Gazzaev.


2008 Russian Premier League, Medal squads
Transferred out during the season: Dudu  (to  Olympiacos), Jô  (to  Manchester City), Daniel Carvalho  (on loan to  Internacional).


2008 Russian Premier League, Medal squads
Goalkeepers: Vladimir Gabulov (12), Žydrūnas Karčemarskas  (9), Anton Shunin (9). Defenders: Leandro Fernández  (28 / 4), Denis Kolodin (22 / 1), Jovan Tanasijević  (20 / 1), Marcin Kowalczyk  (20), Aleksandr Dimidko (12 / 2), Luke Wilkshire  (11 / 2), Vladimir Granat (11), Arūnas Klimavičius  (9 / 1), Nikita Chicherin (3), Aleksandr Tochilin (3). Midfielders: Dmitri Kombarov (30 / 1), Igor Semshov (29 / 6), Dmitri Khokhlov (27 / 2), Kirill Kombarov (26 / 1), Danny  (18 / 5), Andrei Karpovich  (12), Aleksandr Denisov (1). Forwards: Aleksandr Kerzhakov (27 / 7), Tsvetan Genkov  (23 / 4), Aleksandr Kokorin (7 / 2), Fyodor Smolov (7 / 1).


2008 Russian Premier League, Medal squads
Transferred out during the season: Danny  (to FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Aleksandr Denisov (on loan to FC Salyut-Energia Belgorod).


2008 Russian Professional Rugby League season
The 2008 Russian Professional Rugby League Season was the fourth season of the new Russian Professional Rugby League. The season saw a huge expansion of the competition with the entrance of 14 teams into the preliminary group stage of the championship. VVA Monino were the eventual champions.


2008 Russian Professional Rugby League season, Format
This season saw the introduction of an initial group stage whereby the championship was divided into two Divisions, the Eastern Division consisting of six teams, and the Western Division consisting of eight, with the West Division further subdivided into two groups of four. At the end of the group stage the top six sides formed a super-group that then featured a home and away stage between these six sides.


2008 Russian Professional Rugby League season, Format
The play-offs again featured a best of three semi final stage with the top side playing against the four side, whilst two versed three. The final itself was a best of three if required, though the surprise finalists Slava Moscow were defeated by VVA Monino 2-0.


2008 Russian Second Division
The Russian Second Division 2008 was the third strongest Division in Russian football. The Second Division is geographically divided into 5 zones. The winners of each zone are automatically promoted into the First Division. The bottom finishers of each zone lose professional status and are relegated into the Amateur Football League.


2008 Russian Super Cup
The 2008 Russian Super Cup was the 6th Russian Super Cup match, a football match which was contested between the 2007 Russian Premier League champion, Zenit Saint Petersburg, and the winner of 2006–07 Russian Cup, Lokomotiv Moscow. The match was held on 9 March 2008 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. Zenit St. Petersburg beat Lokomotiv Moscow 2–1 to win their first Russian Super Cup.


2008 Russian military reform
Significant reforms of the Russian Armed Forces were announced in October 2008 under Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov, and major structural reorganisation began in early 2009. The stated aims of the reform are to reorganize the structure and the chain of command in the Russian army, and to reduce it in size.


2008 Russian military reform
Key elements of the reforms announced in October 2008 included:


2008 Russian military reform
There had previously been several reform attempts such as the 1997 plan under defence minister Igor Sergeyev and the 2003 programme of President Putin (‘Urgent Tasks for the Development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation’), the latter of which was very similar to the 2008 programme, as it emphasized already the need for reductions in personnel strength, a gradual decrease in the use of conscripts in favour of professional soldiers, the creation of a professional NCO corps and drastic changes to officer training and education. The 2003 program however moved at a very slow pace, mainly due to the unwillingness of the military to reform.


2008 Russian military reform, Personnel strength
An essential part of the military reform is its downsizing. By the beginning of the reform, there were about 1.13 million active personnel in the Russian Armed Forces. The planned reduction to 1 million servicemen will be advanced from 2016 to 2022. Largely, the reductions falls within the officers. They used to account for about one third of the total strength of the Armed Forces: this will be reduced to 15%.


2008 Russian military reform, Personnel strength
The enlisted men are to be reduced according to the table:


2008 Russian military reform, Personnel strength
On April 4, 2011 General-Colonel Vasily Smirnov, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, said that the reformed forces would consist of 220,000 officers, 425,000 contract servicemen and 300,000 conscript soldiers.


2008 Russian military reform, NCO Corps
An important element of the reforms is the creation of a professional NCO corps. Such a corps would serve as the basis for soldier training and military discipline. The NCO corps will consist of specialists with almost 3 years (2 years and 10 months) of training. The first new NCO Training Center was established in December 2009 at the Ryazan Institute for Airborne Troops. The future NCOs will occupy the posts of commanders and deputy commanders of motor rifle, reconnaissance, airborne, and motor transport platoons, as well as company and battery first sergeants.


2008 Russian military reform, NCO Corps
It is planned to have 2,000 candidates annually. However, the introduction of sergeants into the system will take not 3–4 years as envisaged, but at least 10–15. This delay could undermine reform by creating problems with management and the manning of those combat arms where a relatively high percentage of officers are involved in the direct operation of military equipment, such as the submarine fleet, air-defense forces, etc.


2008 Russian military reform, NCO Corps, Military districts
From 1992 to 2010, the Russian Ground Forces were divided into seven military districts:


2008 Russian military reform, NCO Corps, Military districts
In mid 2010, a reorganisation was announced which would consolidate military districts and the navy's fleets into four Joint Strategic Commands (OSK). Geographically divided, the four commands will be:


2008 Russian military reform, NCO Corps, Military districts
In 2014, the decision to give the Northern Fleet more autonomy was made and a fifth strategic command was established:


2008 Russian military reform, NCO Corps, Military districts
"Serdyukov's Defense Ministry will also be putting some soon-to-be-vacant real estate up for sale, e.g., Moscow MD headquarters (Polina Osipenko Street, Moscow), Far East MD headquarters (Seryshev Street, Khabarovsk). The initial asking prices for these buildings and land will be several billion U.S. dollars. As long planned, proceeds from these sales, along with the sale of the Navy Main Staff, military educational institutions, and other military establishments in Moscow, are supposed to fund construction of housing for servicemen as well as military garrison infrastructure in new army deployment locations."


2008 Russian military reform, Ground Forces
Before the 2008 reform, the Russian Ground Forces (SV) had 24 divisions, namely 3 tank divisions, 16 motorized rifle divisions and 5 machine gun artillery divisions, as well as two division-strength military bases in Armenia and Tajikistan, and 12 independent brigades. Out of those 24 divisions, only 5 motorised rifle-divisions were at full strength in 2008. Only about 13% of the army units could be deemed permanently combat-ready. It was announced that every tank or motorized-rifle division will be split, as a rule, into two brigades.


2008 Russian military reform, Ground Forces
This process began in October 2008 with the splitting of the 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division near Moscow. By the end of 2009, 23 of the 24 divisions had been disbanded and their elements were used to create 4 tank brigades, 35 motorized rifle brigades (10 of which were pre-existing) and one "fortifications" brigade. All the brigades are permanent-readiness forces. Almost all brigades are now designated otdelnaya (separate), with several units retaining the "Guards" honorific. The only remaining division is the 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division on the Kuril Islands.


2008 Russian military reform, Ground Forces
The number of military units and formations in the Ground Forces will be reduced from 1,890 to 172 within three years. The original four-link command and control system (military district – army – division – regiment) has been replaced by a three-link system (military district – operational command – brigade).


2008 Russian military reform, Air Forces
The number of units in the Russian Air Force (VVS) will be reduced from 340 to 180, the number of air bases from 245 to 52. It was announced that the Air Force plans to eliminate the reduced, two-squadron aviation regiments (those with 24 combat aircraft per regiment). The new organization of the VVS establishes the Air Base as the basic structural element. Each air base will include an HQ, 1–7 air squadrons (or aviation groups), an airfield service battalion and communication units. The Belarusian Air Force currently uses the same structure. All Aviation Division HQs have been disbanded and the Air Bases receive their orders from the seven new Aviation Commands:


2008 Russian military reform, Air Forces
All the air defence divisions and corps of the Air Defence Forces (PVO), which are part of the Air Force since 1998, have been disbanded and replaced by 13 aerospace defence brigades. These new brigades have been distributed among the seven commands, and consist of fighter aviation air bases, SAM regiments and radar regiments.


2008 Russian military reform, Air Forces
The Gagarin and Zhukovskiy air force academies have been merged into the new Zhukovskiy-Gagarin Air Force Academy in Monino.


2008 Russian military reform, Navy
The Russian Navy (VMF) will be cut almost by half, from 240 to 123 units. On the other hand, its fighting capability will be bolstered by bringing various units to 100% of their full wartime strength. Other planned changes are the offloading of non-military assets such as housing, the outsourcing of some jobs to civilian contractors and a reduction of the number of non-combat officers.


2008 Russian military reform, Navy
The Fleets have been subordinated to the new Operational Strategic Commands: the Northern and Baltic Fleets are part of the Western Military District, the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla are part of the Southern Military District, and the Pacific Fleet is part of the Eastern Military District.


2008 Russian military reform, Navy
Under the State Armament Program, 100 warships will be procured by 2020. The purchase of 20 submarines, 35 corvettes and 15 frigates is planned for example 6-8 Project 885 SSNs and 6 Project 636.


2008 Russian military reform, Navy
The Navy's schools and research institutes have been merged into a territorially distributed Naval Academy Research and Training Center which consists of the Naval Academy, the Higher Special Officer Courses, five naval research institutes, three MOD research institutes, the Nakhimov Naval School in St. Petersburg and the Naval Cadet Corps.


2008 Russian military reform, Navy
The Naval Aviation and the support units were reorganized into 13 air bases which were in a second stage merged into territorially integrated structures. As is the case for the reformed Air Force, each new air base consists of an HQ, support units and one or more aviation groups (the former air bases).


2008 Russian military reform, Navy
Several units of the Naval Infantry have changed their status. The 61st Separate Naval Infantry Brigade of the Northern Fleet has become a regiment, the 810th Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet has become a brigade, the 55th Division of the Pacific Fleet has been disbanded and replaced by the 155th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade, and the 77th Brigade of the Caspian Flotilla was disbanded too.


2008 Russian military reform, Airborne Troops
Initially it was planned to transform the four existing divisions of the Airborne Troops (VDV) into 7 to 8 air-assault brigades, among a number of other cuts and changes which drew of lot of protest of reserve and active airborne troopers who fear a loss of status.


2008 Russian military reform, Airborne Troops
However general Shamanov, who was appointed as new CinC of the VDV in May 2009 and who generally supports the reform programme, cancelled all cuts and changes in the VDV and announced that the airborne troops would be reinforced.


2008 Russian military reform, Airborne Troops
MOD Serdyukov announced that he does not see the need to create independent rapid-reaction forces. "The Armed Forces already have such units in the VDV. They will be strengthened, and each military district will have an Airborne brigade to carry out urgent missions and operations under unpredictable circumstances."


2008 Russian military reform, Airborne Troops
The divisions have been beefed up and there are now four independent airborne/air-assault brigades.


2008 Russian military reform, Strategic Missile Troops
The Strategic Missile Troops (RVSN) will retain 8 in place of twelve missile divisions.


2008 Russian military reform, Space Troops
The number of units/formations of the Russian Space Forces (KV) will be reduced from 7 to 6.


2008 Russian military reform, Reform of military education
The centralization and downsizing of the military education system is closely related to planned reductions to the officer corps. The Russian military education system had been based upon the previous set of Soviet military academies. Serdyukov announced that the 65 military institutions of higher learning (15 academies, four universities, 46 colleges – including Suvorov and Nakhimov schools – and institutes) will be reduced by 2012 to just ten "systemic institutions": three research and teaching centers, six academies and one university. The new institutions will not only serve to train officers, but also to conduct research.


2008 Russian military reform, Reform of military education
They will be established according to territory, not combat arm. For now, all existing facilities will become affiliates of these ten centers; decisions regarding potential closures will be taken later. Serdyukov affirmed that the entire faculty of existing military institutes will be preserved and absorbed into the new system, and that only the managerial layer will be reduced. He also said that many formerly military specializations, such as lawyers, will now be educated at civilian facilities.


2008 Russian military reform, Closure of military towns
When Serdyukov became the Minister of Defence, Russia had 27 000 fortified settlements/military bases, that were in practice closed towns. Reform of 2008 reduced this number to 500. The problems with this started when the search started for alternative owners. Mostly the local councils were obliged to take them over but this created issues that made local councils reluctant. There was no decent oversight over the residents, many towns contained large criminal or homeless element that the local law enforcement was unable to touch since the closed establishment was under military jurisdiction.


2008 Russian military reform, Closure of military towns
Also the residential and infrastructure was in a poor shape and locals councils did not have resources to fix. As long as these towns were under control of military, residents from these establishments could make written complaints. Most of these complaints however disappeared, were ignored or simply were not replied. Mostly complaining was useless and responsible people with power to change anything were not reachable. Local council, who after Serdyukov's 2008 reforms had to take over, is however reachable. Considering the residents of these towns also gained right to participate local elections after military's withdrawal, most of the local councils management did not want to take them over at all.


2008 Russian military reform, Bringing finances under control and reducing power of General Staff
Despite significant raise in the defence spending before Serdyukov became MOD, the better funding was not visible because it had vaporised. Apparently the first task of Serdyukov was to established control over flow of finances, explaining why he created financial control department in MOD and staffing it with people from Federal Tax Service of Russia. This strained already explosive relations between Serdyukov and General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation further since traditionally everything defence related was under General Staff's control.


2008 Russian military reform, Bringing finances under control and reducing power of General Staff
Dismissal of General Yuri Baluyevsky from General Staff, implementing reforms in 2008 and promoting of General Nikolay Yegorovich Makarov was salami tactics style of cutting power from the General Staff. Next step was to reduce massive maintenance costs since Russian military before Serdyukov's reforms was just a downsized version of Soviet Armed Forces. Since 1991, there had been many plans to reform Russian Armed Forces to post-soviet level and make more suitable for Russian national defence needs, however due to the resistance from General Staff and exciting structures, most of them were implemented only by name. Reform of 2008 was the first clearly implemented reform where General Staff's resistance was broken.


2008 Russian military reform, Bringing finances under control and reducing power of General Staff
There are multiple samples of mismanagement of funds under General Staff. Most of the famous incident is with the Russian submarine Ekaterinburg (K-84). On 29 December 2011 around 1220 UTC, Ekaterinburg caught fire while in the floating drydock PD-50. As per some date, 3 fires happened on that day and last one did spin out of control, creating dangerous incident with the weaponry on board, including nuclear weapons.


2008 Russian military reform, Bringing finances under control and reducing power of General Staff
Officials initially confirmed that all weaponry was moved from the Ekaterinburg before but Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin lead the investigation personally and concluded Ekaterinburg “did not unload the ammunition set for repair: there were torpedoes on it, and regular ballistic missiles.”  Partially reason for Moscow's dissatisfaction was that for that there had been funds released to remove the armaments from Ekaterinburg for the duration of repairs but these most likely disappeared. Another issue was ammunition storage and ammunition dump explosions, such as Severomorsk Disaster that did have a risk occurring once in a while.


2008 Russian military reform, Bringing finances under control and reducing power of General Staff
Before 2008 reforms Russian military industry did utilise 150 000 tons of ammunition a year. By 2011, there was 4,5 million tons of obsolete ammunition in storage at ammunition depoos. Some of the obsolete ammunition in storage was made in 1920s for artillery and there was also ammunition for T-34, that had been already phased out from Russian Armed Forces. By the end of 2012, they has blown up Russian military's training fields 3,6 million tons of this ammo. Russian military industry, who had been responsible for storing this ammo, did not like this since it did hurt their business.


2008 Russian presidential election
The 2008 Russian presidential election was held on 2 March 2008, and resulted in the election of Dmitry Medvedev as the third President of Russia. Medvedev was elected for a four-year term, whose candidacy was supported by incumbent president Vladimir Putin and five political parties (United Russia, Fair Russia, Agrarian Party, Civilian Power, and Russian Ecological Party "The Greens"), received 71% of the vote, and defeated Gennady Zyuganov of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.


2008 Russian presidential election
The fairness of the election was disputed, with official monitoring groups giving conflicting reports. Some reported that the election was free and fair, while others reported that not all candidates had equal media coverage and that the opposition to the Kremlin was treated unfairly. Monitoring groups found a number of other irregularities. The European election monitoring group PACE characterized the election as "neither free nor fair."


2008 Russian presidential election
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) election monitoring group refused to monitor the election because of what it called "severe restrictions on its observers by the Russian government", a charge Russia vehemently rejected, calling the decision "unacceptable".


2008 Russian presidential election, Candidates, Registered candidates
Candidates are listed in the order they appear on the ballot paper (alphabetical order in Russian).


2008 Russian presidential election, Campaign
Following his appointment as First Deputy Prime Minister, many political observers expected Medvedev to be nominated as Putin's successor for the 2008 presidential elections. There were other potential candidates, such as Sergey Ivanov and Viktor Zubkov, but on December 10, 2007, President Putin announced that Medvedev was his preferred successor. Four parties supporting Putin also declared Medvedev to be their candidate to the post – United Russia, A Just Russia, Agrarian Party of Russia and Civilian Power.


2008 Russian presidential election, Campaign
United Russia held its party congress on December 17, 2007, where by secret ballot of the delegates, Medvedev was officially endorsed as their candidate in the 2008 presidential election. He formally registered his candidacy with the Central Election Commission on December 20, 2007, and said he would step down as chairman of Gazprom, since under the current laws, the president was not permitted to hold another post. Sources close to Gazprom and Medvedev told the Vedomosti newspaper that Medvedev might be replaced by Putin at Gazprom. His registration was formally accepted as valid by the Russian Central Election Commission on January 21, 2008.


2008 Russian presidential election, Campaign
In January 2008, Medvedev launched his presidential campaign with stops in the regions. In his first speech since he was endorsed, Medvedev announced that, as president, he would appoint Vladimir Putin to the post of prime minister to head the Russian government. Although constitutionally barred from a third consecutive presidential term, such a role would allow Putin to continue as an influential figure in Russian politics Putin pledged that he would accept the position of prime minister should Medvedev be elected president. Election posters portrayed the pair side by side with the slogan "Together we will win" ("Вместе победим").


2008 Russian presidential election, Campaign
During the pre-election debates on the Star TV on February 20, Nikolai Gotsa, a representative of Bogdanov, accused Vladimir Zhirinovsky and his party of lying to and betraying their supporters. He accused them of voting in favor of government initiatives they criticize when in public. Zhirinovsky replied fiercely, insulting Gotsa and calling him a "sick man, a schizoid", "bastard", and punched him when they went off the cameras. Bogdanov and Gotsa launched a legal issue against Zhirinovsky. On February 28, in another debate, Bogdanov claimed he had a personal talk with Zhirinovsky, and that the latter had threatened his life and demanded to withdraw the issue.


2008 Russian presidential election, Opinion polls
According to opinion polls taken prior to the election, up to 82% of people said that they would vote for Dmitry Medvedev, the candidate endorsed by Vladimir Putin as his preferred successor. The second most popular candidate was Gennady Zuganov, Leader of the Communist Party of Russia, who was expected to receive between 6% and 15% of the vote.


2008 Russian presidential election, Opinion polls
An opinion poll by the Yury Levada Analytical Center, taken in September after Vladimir Putin announced he would head the electoral list of United Russia in the 2007 Parliamentary elections, showed a commanding lead for Sergei Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev, with 34% and 30% of the vote respectively. Viktor Zubkov and Sergei Glazyev received only 4% of the vote each.


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, in its capacity as an international election standards watchdog, refused to monitor the election because of what it called severe restrictions on its observers by the Russian government.


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
After weeks of negotiations, Russia agreed to increase the observer numbers for the ODIHR mission and extend the time frame for its visit, but the ODIHR claimed that the offer still didn't meet their requirements, insisting that it needed to send at least 50 of its observers to Russia on February 15, five days before the date proposed by Moscow, in order effectively monitor the election campaign.


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
Russia responded by insisting that it was complying fully with its international obligations and that its invitation for 400 monitors meets international standards. It accused the OSCE of attempting to politicize the dispute and that it suspected ODIHR's intention from the outset was to boycott the election, saying that the ODIHR had displayed "contempt for basic ethical norms ... which, it seems, indicates that ODIHR from the start was not even trying to agree on mutually acceptable conditions for monitoring."


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
The Russian side consented to 25 observers arriving this week and the rest of them on February, 25. Our proposal was denied. The Office (OSCE) insisted it will not send its observers to Russia unless Moscow accepts its demands. This is an ultimatum a self-respecting country cannot accept.


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mikhail Kamynin, said "The ODIHR flatly rejected a compromise without providing any clear explanations for its position. We believe such actions are unacceptable." Kamynin added that Moscow "deeply regretted" the OSCE refusal, accusing the organization, which he said generally sends 10-20 experts to observe election campaigns one or two weeks ahead of polls, of political bias against Russia.


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
An incident arose during the election when three out of nine members of the Biysk Electoral Commission refused to sign the protocols citing widespread falsifications in their Priobsky Division. The rest of commission decided to approve the protocols as the alleged abuse was not reported during the election.


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
The European election monitoring group PACE characterized the election as "neither free nor fair."


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
Representatives from the GOLOS monitoring group stated that "the Election Day was held in a relatively quiet atmosphere in contrast to the State Duma election day. Such large-scale violations observed then as campaigning next to polling stations, transporting of voters, intimidation of voters and others were practically non-existent." They did however report irregularities in the election.


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
The Commonwealth of Independent States observer mission said the election was free, fair and in line with international standards. "The CIS observer mission states that the election is a major factor in the further democratization of public life in the Russian Federation, and recognizes it as free, open and transparent," said Nauryz Aidarov, head of the CIS mission.


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
Observers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization said the election was free, fair and in line with international standards.


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
An observing group from Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe stated that the result of the election was a "reflection of the will of an electorate whose democratic potential was, unfortunately, not tapped". They said "In the elections, which had more the character of a plebiscite on the last eight years in this country, the people of Russia voted for the stability and continuity associated with the incumbent President and the candidate promoted by him. The President-elect will have a solid mandate given to him by the majority of Russians."


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
The head of Russia's electoral commission Vladimir Churov said that media coverage for the presidential election had been "fair but not equal".


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
The Economist reported that Medvedev has been mentioned over six times more often than his three rivals in 1,000 different news sources, according to figures from SCAN, a media database owned by Interfax, but stated that this could be due to Medvedev's high-profile job as chairman of the state-owned gas monopoly, Gazprom.


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
A report by the International Herald Tribune described Medvedev's election as "the culmination of Putin's efforts to consolidate control over the government, business and the news media since taking office eight years ago."


2008 Russian presidential election, Conduct
Russian Novaya Gazeta claimed that there were forged election protocols and cases when independent observers were not allowed to monitor the election process. Journalist Victor Shenderovich claims that only 3.5% of voters came to the elections in certain North Caucasus regions according to independent observers, whereas the Central Election committee reporter more than 90% turnaround.


2008 Russian presidential election, Results
Medvedev was also endorsed by Agrarian Party, Fair Russia, Russian Ecological Party - "The Greens" and Civilian Power, but was officially nominated as a United Russia candidate.


2008 Russian presidential election, Results, Reactions
According to Russia Today, many in the Western media portrayed Russia's presidential election as nothing but a farce. It reported that the claims of rigging the election were not supported by the various international election monitoring organizations in attendance.


2008 Russian presidential election, Results, Reactions
Political analyst and United Russia member, Sergei Markov, said that the outcome of this poll was predetermined because of how much support the Russian people show for Vladimir Putin's policies. "The Russian people have seen how successful these policies have been, and they want them to continue", he says. Markov cited fears that the West would interfere and change the course of the election, like they did in Ukraine and Georgia.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis
An international diplomatic crisis between Georgia and Russia began in 2008, when Russia announced that it would no longer participate in the Commonwealth of Independent States economic sanctions imposed on Abkhazia in 1996 and established direct relations with the separatist authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The crisis was linked to the push for Georgia to receive a NATO Membership Action Plan and, indirectly, the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis
Increasing tensions led to the outbreak of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. After the war, a number of incidents occurred in both conflict zones, and tensions between the belligerents remained high.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Prelude to war, Lifting of CIS sanctions
During the meeting with the presidents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in February 2008, the Russian official declared Moscow should "reshape its relations with self-proclaimed republics". Russia's Duma called a session for 13 March to discuss the issue of recognition of the unrecognized republics in the former Soviet Union.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Prelude to war, Lifting of CIS sanctions
On 6 March 2008, Russia lifted Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) sanctions imposed on Abkhazia in 1996, and declared them outdated, "hindering the implementation of economic and social programs in the region and is causing unjustified hardship for the people of Abkhazia." The Russian decision was met with protests from Tbilisi and lack of support from the other CIS countries. Shalva Natelashvili, leader of the Georgian Labour Party, warned Russia's lifting of economic sanctions on Abkhazia meant Georgia would lose Abkhazia. Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said the European Union was concerned by this development. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, raised concerns about the dropping of trade restrictions saying, "That could look like a de facto annexation and that would be a matter of great concern if it were the case."


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Prelude to war, Increased involvement of Russia with breakaway republics in Georgia
On 1 March 2008, Russian General Vasily Lunev, former Deputy Commander of Siberian Military District was appointed as defence minister of South Ossetia.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Prelude to war, Increased involvement of Russia with breakaway republics in Georgia
Abkhazia and South Ossetia both submitted formal requests for recognition of their independence to Russia, and international community, citing the precedent of the recognition of Kosovo. European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said that there was "a growing preoccupation and anxiety that Russia may be paving the way for recognition of Abkhazia," and stated the EU's support for Georgia's territorial integrity.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Prelude to war, Increased involvement of Russia with breakaway republics in Georgia
Russia's ambassador to NATO warned that a move by Georgia to join NATO could bolster the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, arguing that since the NATO referendum held in Georgia did not include the breakaway states, it showed Georgia intended to join NATO without them.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Prelude to war, Increased involvement of Russia with breakaway republics in Georgia
The Duma Committee for CIS on 13 March, following a hearing on the unrecognized republics, recommended a deepening of links with Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria. Other recommendations included the establishment of diplomatic missions in the regions (with the foreign ministry to decide whether they would be consulates or another type of mission), a removal of import duties on goods created by businesses with Russian shareholders in the regions, and increased humanitarian and economic assistance for Russian passport holders in the regions. The Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily described the hearing as "the launch of a procedure of recognition."


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Prelude to war, Increased involvement of Russia with breakaway republics in Georgia
On 21 March 2008, Russian State Duma adopted a resolution, in which it called on Russian president and the government to consider the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Prelude to war, Increased involvement of Russia with breakaway republics in Georgia
On 3 April 2008, when the NATO summit was being held in Bucharest, President Putin sent a letter to the leaders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, addressing them as "presidents" and promising Russian support that would be "practical, not declaratory" in nature. Five days later, the Georgian Ministry of Justice received a letter from its Russian counterpart; the letter said Russia would upgrade its direct relations with the two separatist regions, and featured language such as "closely cooperate, hold talks and make legal-related decisions with the Abkhaz authorities".


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Prelude to war, Increased involvement of Russia with breakaway republics in Georgia
On 16 April 2008, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was going to recognise some documents issued by the separatist authorities and cooperate with them on trade and other issues. Putin also instructed his government to recognise businesses and organisations registered under Abkhaz and South Ossetian law, and to look at providing consular services to residents in the two regions. Georgian Foreign Minister David Bakradze said Russia's move amounted to a "legalisation of the de facto annexation process" being conducted by Russia and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer urged Russia to reverse the move. This decision was linked to the push for Georgia to receive a NATO Membership Action Plan and, indirectly, the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo. Anonymous Russian diplomat had told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the draft decree was aimed at de facto annexation rather than recognition.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Prelude to war, Increased involvement of Russia with breakaway republics in Georgia
Direct dealings between Russia and Abkhazia on the transfer of Russian citizens from Abkhaz prisons raised concern from Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis since the dealings were done without seeking the permission of the Georgian government.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Prelude to war, Increased involvement of Russia with breakaway republics in Georgia
Russia's state-owned Gazprom was reported to be planning oil and gas exploration in Abkhazia beginning 1 July 2008. In addition, Abkhazia said international airline flights from Russia could use Sukhumi airport through the International Civil Aviation Organization had said such flights would be unacceptable. Officials from Gazprom said there were no plans for oil exploration in Abkhazia, but did say there was a proposal being considered to build a gas pipeline to Abkhazia. Responding to Russian media reports that sea links between Sochi in Russia and Gagra in Abkhazia would be resumed, Georgia threatened to appeal to international marine organizations over the use of "illegal" routes.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Post-War, Separation
Between 1918 and 1921 Georgia was briefly independent from the Russian empire. After a couple of years, Georgia and another former Russian state became Soviet Socialist Republics. During the transition to the Soviet Socialist Republic, in 1922 South Ossetia was created within the new Georgian republic than a few years later in 1931 the Abkhazia republic was downgraded to being an Oblast republic in Georgia. A year later in 1990, South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia. A year later Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union which leads to future Georgian conflicts.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Post-War, Separation
From 1991–1992 there were armed conflicts between Georgia, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia; during this conflict, Zviad Gamsakhurdia was disposed of as the president. After 1992 the two territories try to claim independence bit it always resulted in an armed conflict with Georgia. Up until the Abkhazian separatist forces defeated the Georgian military in 1993; after that in October 1993 Georgia joins the Commonwealth of Independent States. After a couple of years of fighting, a cease-fire was declared and signed in 1994 between the Georgian forces and the Abkhazia separatists; during the ceasefire Russian Peace troops were dispatched in the conflicted area.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Post-War, Russian peacekeepers
After the armed conflict between Georgia and the South Ossetia region, both sides agreed and signed the involvement of Russia and Russia peacekeepers.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Russian tactics
As the conflict between Georgia and Russia raged on in August 2008, Georgian forces began to realize that is was not a coincidence and that the Russian forces seemed prepared to fight. When Russian forces began to move south into Georgia, they would pick advantageous points and use aircraft to knock out television towers. Russia began to build illegal fences around the South Ossetia territory. Russia's actions included "constructing illegal fencing and earthen barriers to separate communities and further divide the Georgian population” The West and Georgia feared Russia was trying to slowly annex Georgia and divide the country. Over time, Russia installed 19 military bases in South Ossetia which made the West very concerned for the future of Georgia and the region.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Russia-Georgia relations in 2013
Five years after the 2008 Russia Georgia conflict, the Georgian government showed support for restoring relations with Russia. Russia continued to maintain a military presence, "Russian troops [were] stationed in 20% of the country's territory." Russia was in talks about lifting sanctions off of Georgia and relaxing travel restrictions; Georgia wanted to continue its path toward membership in the European Union and NATO. During the conflict, many Georgians were asked what their views were on Russia. Many claimed to love the people of Russia, but one interviewee claimed to only dislike Vladimir Putin. The relationship between Russia and Georgia was improving very slowly as both sides talked about the future of the relationship between the two and the future of Georgia.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Impact on Georgia and South Ossetia
The Russia-Georgian conflict came to an end with a ceasefire that was implemented 12 August 2008. Georgia ended with conflict without the South Ossetia territory, which Russia recognized their independence, but Georgia still viewed it as part of its own territory. Ossetia's split from Georgia caused its domestic economy to collapse. After the conflict, South Ossetia "totally rely on funding from Russia, but because of corruption". This pushed Georgia to sign an association agreement with the European Union, but they had yet to submit for membership.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Impact on Georgia and South Ossetia
After the conflict political unrest in Georgia caused people to look at each other negatively if they said anything negative about Saakashvili's government during the conflict. Many saw it as being against Georgia when they were trying to defend themselves some even go as far as being a Russian supporter or agent.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, War crimes
At the end of the conflict between Russia and Georgia, Georgia went to the European court of human rights to provide evidence that Russia committed war crimes during the conflict. During the hearing Georgia claimed, "Russian planes carried out more than 100 attacks on Georgian targets” These Russian bombing lead to many Georgians losing their homes and being killed. Communities and villages were destroyed, and many Georgians were forced by Russian troops to leave their homes.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, War crimes
Georgia also claimed that when the conflict first broke out in 2008, Russia had approximately 30,000 troops that were distributed in South Ossetia and Abkhazia provinces. These Russian troops along with Ossetia forces began "sealing off entrances and exits... then systematically burned down Georgian homes and entire villages... adding that they carried out summary executions and threaten individuals that would not leave”. The verdict for the case is supposed to be given and it may find Russia guilty for some of these cries, but the Kremlin threatens to hold funding from the court and to withdraw from the court entirely.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war
Given the history and connection of Russia and Georgia, they both used different types of weapons during the conflict. By Georgia is a former state of the Soviet Union, it was expected for them to use Soviet-era weaponry. Many of the Russian weapons were Soviet era and many soldiers had a hard time using them during the conflict. It was "estimated that some 80 percent of Russian weaponry had not been refurbished since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991”


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war
The Soviet-era weapons set Russia back a little during the conflict while Georgia was using more efficient and updated weaponry. Before the conflict, Georgia had many of its tanks and infantry vehicles updated by western firms. Reports also claimed, "Georgian aircraft tended to have superior communication, avionics, and weapon-control system” compared to the Russian aircraft. Russian soldiers at one point during the conflict had to strip dead Georgian soldiers of their armor to increase their protection. Most of the Russian's military equipment was ineffective against the Georgian forces.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Georgia drone-downing incidents
On 20 April 2008 a Georgian unarmed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was shot down over the Abkhaz conflict zone. Russia's Air Force denied Georgian claims that a MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter, from the Gudauta military base, was involved in the incident. Abkhazia's separatist administration said earlier that they had shot down the drone at 6 a.m. GMT, but Georgians denied this. Abkhazia said that they were defending their airspace. The Abkhaz Defense Ministry identified the drone as an Israeli-made Hermes 450. Garry Kupalba, deputy defence minister of the Republic of Abkhazia, told reporters the drone was shot down by an "L-39 aircraft of the Abkhaz Air Force".


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Georgia drone-downing incidents
However, Georgia's defence ministry released video the next day showing what appears to be a Russian MiG-29 shooting down the unarmed Georgian drone. , shot from the drone, shows a jet launching a missile over what appears to be the Black Sea. Furthermore, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement accusing Georgia of violating the 1994 Moscow agreement and United Nations resolutions on Abkhazia by deploying without authorisation a UAV which also can be used for adjusting of fire.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Georgia drone-downing incidents
On 23 April 2008, a closed meeting of the UN Security Council was held in New York. After a closed-door UN Security Council emergency session, the U.S., the United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a joint statement expressing their concern over Russia's actions in Abkhazia and calling on Moscow to reverse or not to implement its decision to deepen ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin called the demand by the Western states "a tall order" and stressed that Russia had no intention of reversing its plans.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Georgia drone-downing incidents
The Ambassador of Russia to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, suggested that a MiG-29 belonging to a NATO member might have downed the Georgian spy plane. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer reportedly remarked that "he'd eat his tie if it turned out that a NATO MiG-29 had magically appeared in Abkhazia and shot down a Georgian drone."


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Georgia drone-downing incidents
Early in May 2008, both Russian and Abkhaz sides claimed that two more Georgian reconnaissance drones were shot over Abkhazia. Georgia denied these allegations, stating that it was "a provocation" aimed at "information-propagandistic support of Russia's military intervention."


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Georgia drone-downing incidents
On 26 May 2008, the U.N. mission released the conclusion of its independent investigation into the 20 April incident. It confirmed that the Georgian video footage and radar data were authentic and the jet which destroyed the drone was indeed Russian. The conclusion report said that the jet flew towards the Russian territory after the incident, but it was unclear where the attacker took off, naming the Gudauta base as a possible locality. Georgia hailed the report, but Russia dismissed it.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Georgia drone-downing incidents
According to Der Spiegel, after the incident President Saakashvili deployed 12,000 Georgian troops to Senaki in May 2008. Georgia had officially suspended drone flights over Abkhazia in early June, but Abkhazia accused Georgia of continuing to fly drones in the region.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
In late April 2008, Russia said that Georgia was amassing 1,500 soldiers and police in the upper Kodori Gorge area and planning to invade Abkhazia. President Saakashvili, in his televised address, pledged to pursue only a peaceful line in the conflict areas and called upon the Abkhaz and Ossetians to unite with Georgia in defying attempts by "outrageous and irresponsible" external force to trigger bloodshed. Russia accused Georgia of trying to solve the Abkhazia problem by force and of sending its troops in the Georgian-controlled upper Kodori Valley in Abkhazia.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
Russia announced it would increase its military in the region and threatened to "retaliate" militarily to Georgia's efforts. The Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said Georgia would treat any additional troops in Abkhazia as aggressors. The European Union also urged caution, saying to increase troop numbers would be "unwise". The United States called on Russia "to reconsider" "some provocative steps" it had taken in respect of Abkhazia.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
Georgia suspended Russia's admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Russian Cossacks and North Caucasian volunteers declared their readiness to fight Georgia in the case of a renewed confrontation in Abkhazia. On 6 May 2008, the Georgian state minister for reintegration Temur Iakobashvili said Georgia was on the verge of war with Russia. UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) said on 8 May that its monitors had "not reported any buildup of security forces" either in Kodori Gorge, or at the administrative Abkhaz border.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the chief UN observer "agreed that actions by the Russian side do not contradict basic agreements on the conduct of the peacekeeping operation", but the mission later responded to this statement, declaring that it "has no authority to pronounce on the conformity between the CIS peacekeeping operation in the Zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict and CIS rules."


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
According to the statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense issued on 8 May, it had increased the number of its peacekeepers in Abkhazia to 2,542 peacekeepers, which was 458 short of the 3,000 limit set by agreement. Georgia showed video footage to the BBC allegedly proving that Russian troops used military hardware in Abkhazia and were a fighting force, rather than peacekeepers; Russia denied the accusations.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhazia's separatist president, said he was in favor of Russia establishing a military base in Abkhazia and called for the signing of a military cooperation agreement with Russia modeled on the Taiwan Relations Act. Alexander Zelin, commander of the Russian Air Forces said if such a decision was made it would "promote the implementation of air defense tasks" and noted Russia had similar cooperation with Armenia. On 16 May 2008, Yuri Baluevsky, chief of general staff of the Russian Armed Forces denied Russia had any plans to build a military base in Abkhazia.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
On 18 May 2008, Georgia detained five Russian peacekeepers along the administrative border with the Abkhazia region saying that their armoured personnel carrier collided with a Georgian woman's car, in the town of Zugdidi. The peacekeepers were later released. Alexander Diordiev, a Russian peacekeeping official, confirmed the detention of the Russian soldiers but said there was no collision and instead that Georgians provoked the peacekeepers in an attempt to discredit the Russians.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
According to Diordiev, peacekeepers were redeploying hardware near the village of Urta on the night of 17–18 May when Georgian law-enforcement officers blocked the road to the peacekeepers' armored personnel carrier and fuel tanker truck. Then a damaged Volga car approached the scene and the Georgian police claimed that the car had been damaged by the Russian peacekeepers. Diordiev said that force was used against the peacekeepers.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
A statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry issued on 19 May 2008 compared the Georgians' actions to those of "true street bandits" saying the Georgians used "crude physical force," striking one peacekeeper in the head and taking two to the police station. According to the statement, only after the intervention of the Collective Forces for the Support of Peace command and the UN observation mission, were the Russian peacekeepers released. Diordiev stated that the Georgians were informed in advance that the equipment would be moved.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
On 19 May 2008, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported that over the weekend Moscow's military leadership authorized peacekeepers to conduct armed operations on their own behalf if necessary. Sergei Shamba, the Abkhaz foreign minister, said the report was "credible."


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
On 21 May 2008 heavy gunfire was reported near the Abkhaz administrative border. A Georgian interior ministry official said two buses of passengers going to vote in the Georgian elections were fired upon. Some reports said the bridge, connecting Abkhazia and Georgian region of Mingrelia, was blocked by Abkhaz separatists during the elections in Georgia. Georgian officials accused Abkhazia of the attacks and preventing Georgians from voting in the legislative elections. Abkhaz president Sergei Bagapsh denied these allegations, instead saying that the attack occurred on the Georgian territory and Georgians living in Abkhazia were not interested in voting. Abkhazia said Russian peacekeepers were sent to the border to prevent further violence.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
Georgia's Foreign Ministry sent a protest note to the CIS secretariat demanding illegal Russian troops and armaments to be immediately withdrawn from Abkhazia, saying that according to the UN, an airborne battalion, 50 BMD-2 airborne combat vehicles, and two artillery batteries had been deployed in Abkhazia. The ministry said this deployment contradicted a 1995 resolution of the CIS presidents' council.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
On 15 June 2008, media reports said that Russia had set up a military base near the village of Agubedia in Abkhazia's Ochamchira District and had deployed heavy armor there. Russia's Defense Ministry denied the report. The Georgian-backed Abkhaz government-in-exile said on 17 June, that Russia refused to allow UN observers in the area.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
On 17 June 2008, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman warned that Tbilisi's proposal to review the status of the peacekeeping operation in the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict zone could "unfreeze" the conflict, while the situation in the Caucasus as a whole could "slip out of control."


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
On 17 June 2008, Georgia detained four Russian peacekeepers and a military truck in the conflict zone between Georgia proper and Abkhazia. Georgia's Interior Ministry said that the peacekeepers were transporting 35 crates of ammunition, including guided missiles and anti-tank mines, thus violating the existing agreements. Russia's Defense Ministry said the arrest was "in violation of all regulatory norms in the buffer zone." The peacekeepers were released after nine hours of interrogation. Lieutenant General Alexander Burutin, a deputy head of the General Staff, on 19 June compared the detention to "a bandit attack", saying Russian peacekeepers had every right to use their weapons. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would not tolerate such actions against peacekeepers.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
A Russian military expert, Pavel Felgenhauer, commenting on the situation in the conflict zone predicted war between Georgia and Abkhazia if provocations didn't stop. Felgenhauer said that Vladimir Putin had already decided to start a war against Georgia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia supposedly in late August 2008. Provocations against Georgia would begin in the Upper Abkhazia and South Ossetia, then the war would spread to the rest of Georgia.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
On 23 June 2008, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin. The sides discussed a broad spectrum of bilateral relations, including the situation in Abkhazia.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Military buildup in Abkhazia
On 30 June, Abkhaz separatist government claimed Georgian special services were responsible for the terrorism in Abkhazia. There was one blast in Sukhumi and two were in Gagra. These blasts wounded two in Sukhumi and six in Gagra. Abkhazia threatened to close the border with Georgia in response to the bombing.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, May and June events in South Ossetia
Georgia's foreign minister, Eka Tkeshelashvili, said on 15 May 2008 that Georgia would regard any increase in Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia as a "gross encroachment on Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity". In late May 2008, there were about 1,000 Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, May and June events in South Ossetia
In South Ossetia three explosions occurred near the administrative border. A bomb exploded meters away from a line of Georgian military vehicles. Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Batu Kutelia accused the South Ossetian administration of being responsible, saying they had taken up "tactics of terrorism."


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, May and June events in South Ossetia
On 20 May 2008, Taymuraz Mamsurov, president of the Russian Republic of North Ossetia, asked foreign ambassadors for their support in uniting the province with South Ossetia. Georgian Ambassador to Russia Erosi Kitsmarishvili said such unification would contravene international law. South Ossetia's President Eduard Kokoity hailed Mamsurov's pronouncement saying "South Ossetia's main goal is unification with North Ossetia in the Russian Federation. We make no secret of this in front of the international community." Kokoity and Dmitry Medoyev suggested an interim period where South Ossetia would be recognized as independent and then formally incorporated into Russia through a referendum.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, May and June events in South Ossetia
On the night of 14–15 June 2008, mortar fire and an exchange of fire broke out between South Ossetian and Georgian forces. South Ossetia claimed that mortar fire was launched from Georgian-controlled villages on Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, and that their forces were responding to fire from Georgian forces on the outskirts of the capital. South Ossetian interior minister, Mikhail Mindzaev, said that the exchange of fire lasted for about four hours. Georgia denied firing the first shot, saying instead that South Ossetia had attacked the Georgian-controlled villages of Ergneti, Nikozi and Prisi.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, May and June events in South Ossetia
One person was killed and four injured in the clashes, and several houses were reportedly damaged. In a separate incident, a 14-year-old boy was injured by a land mine near Ergneti; he later died of his injuries. According to South Ossetia, five people were wounded during the violence and one of them died later.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, May and June events in South Ossetia
Russian, Georgian, and North Ossetian peacekeepers as well as Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe monitors went to the site of the clashes. They came under fire near Ergneti, with no injuries. The fire exchange began on the night of 15 June at 11:38 PM and lasted for half an hour. Automatic firearms and grenade launchers were used.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, May and June events in South Ossetia
Aleksandr Dugin, leader of the International Eurasian movement, who was known for his strong ties with the Russian military and intelligence, visited South Ossetia in late June 2008. On 30 June he said at a press conference: "Russia has practically decided to recognize [Abkhazia and South Ossetia], and you have perfectly prepared everything for this. [ ...] If Russia recognizes independence of South Ossetia and deploys there not peacemaking but Russian border troops, the issue of Georgia joining NATO either will be removed from the agenda for a long time, or this will mean direct conflict with the United States. [ ...] So, we must recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia before December."


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Russian spy accusation
On 16 May 2008 it was reported that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed to have intercepted a Chechen spy working for Georgia who was trying to help rebels in the North Caucasus. The alleged agent was identified as Ramzan Turkoshvili, a Georgian-born Russian citizen, who the unnamed FSB official said was recruited by Georgian intelligence officers working with Zelimkhan Khangashvili. Khangashvili's group was accused of being involved in a 2004 attack in the Russian Republic of Ingushetia that left nearly 100 people dead, many of them policemen.


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Russian spy accusation
An unidentified FSB official also claimed Georgian intelligence paid Turkoshvili to establish contacts with militants in the North Caucasus and help Georgia finance them. The detention was cast as proof that confirmed that Georgia's security service was "participating in disruptive terrorist activities in the North Caucasus." The spokesman for Georgian Interior Ministry, Shota Utiashvili denied the accusations and called it "a continuation of Russia's policy of provocation toward Georgia, which has taken a particularly acute form recently."


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Russian railway troops in Abkhazia
On 31 May 2008, Russia sent its railway troops to repair a railway line in Abkhazia. The Russian defence ministry claimed they were unarmed. Georgia condemned the move as an "aggressive" step aimed against the territorial integrity of Georgia. The US Department of State also said that it was "dismayed" by the deployment. Temur Mzhavia, chairman of the exiled Supreme Council of Abkhazia, claimed that Russia planned to recognize Abkhazia on 27 September, when the Abkhaz celebrate an "independence day", but Vyacheslav Kovalenko, Russia's ambassador to Georgia, dismissed such claims as "fabrications".


2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis, Weapons of war, Russian railway troops in Abkhazia
The new Russian troops' arrival in Abkhazia preceded by a few days a planned meeting between the presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia on the sidelines of a CIS summit in Saint Petersburg on 6–7 June. It was reported that Saakashvili would hold a phone conversation with Medvedev on 3 June to discuss the deployment of Russian engineering units in Abkhazia. On 3 June, NATO's secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer accused Russia of breaching Georgia's sovereignty by sending in military railway personnel and demanded their withdrawal.