Georgia-South Ossetia war: two years on

Two years after Georgia went to war with Russia over the South Ossetia region, thousands of displaced people hold little hope of returning home.

The Zangaladze family were among the 240,000 forced to flee.

They left their native village and now live in a settlement.

But Vladmir Zangaladze says he cannot go back while Russian troops are still there.

“To where should the displace return in South Ossetia?,” Vladmir said.

“The UN could not enter, the European Union could not get there. How can we even talk about going back. Russia should withdraw its troops and perhaps then we can talk about people returning and rebuilding their houses.”

South Ossieta declared independence from Georgia in August 2008. Russia recognised the declaration with a handful of other nations.

Georgia still views the region as its own territory where Georgians account for just under one-third of the population.

“Oh no, God save us,” says one Ossetian woman. “We do not want the Georgians here.”

Georgian and South Ossetian clashed throughout the summer of 2008.

Georgia eventually launched an air and ground strike on the 7th of August, sparking the conflict.

Georgia says it began the assault after Russian troops were headed towards South Ossetia.

But Russia says it only entered South Ossetia after that attack to defend Russian citizens there.

Copyright © 2013 euronews