Background of the Russo-Georgian War Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Emboldened by the success in restoring control in Adjara in early 2004, the Georgian government launched a push to retake South Ossetia. Intense fighting took place between Georgian forces and South Ossetian militia between 8 and 19 August 2004. According to researcher Sergei Markedonov, the brief war in 2004 was a turning point for Russian policy in the region: Russia, which had previously aimed only to preserve the status-quo, now felt that the security of the whole Caucasus depended on the situation in South Ossetia, and took the side of South Ossetia. Since 2006, Georgia's total
Russia–South Ossetia relations Medvedev and the Russian Federal Assembly for official recognition of their independence as sovereign states. President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity flew to Moscow on 23 August 2008 to deliver South Ossetia's appeal in an address to the Federation Council. After hearing the appeals from both the Abkhazian and South Ossetian leadership, on 25 August 2008 the Federation Council and State Duma passed motions calling upon President Medvedev to recognise the independence of the two regions and to establish diplomatic relations with them. On 26 August 2008, President Medvedev signed presidential decrees recognising the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia