On the night of August 8, 2008, the Georgian army entered the territory of South Ossetia and partially destroyed its capital, the city of Tskhinval. The Russian Federation, defending the inhabitants of South Ossetia, most of them have Russian citizenship, brought its troops into the region and, within 5 days of fighting, drove the Georgians out of the conflict zone. Later, at the end of August, Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in response to this Georgia called these two republics occupied territories. Let's see what losses in people and equipment suffered by the parties during this transient conflict.
Losses in people, Russia
According to the Center for Analysis of Strategy and Technology, the Russian army lost 67 people during the conflict. This figure was named by the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, I analyze the past hostilities. This figure includes the number of deaths after a period of active hostilities, that is, before the withdrawal of troops. The situation is somewhat blurred by the fact that neither the UPC nor the RF Ministry of Defense have published an official surname list of the dead servicemen, which introduces some confusion into this issue and the appearance of different numbers of deaths in the range from 48 to 74.
Of the 67 killed servicemen, 48 people died directly from enemy fire, the remaining 19 were victims of road accidents, "friendly fire" and careless handling of weapons. Their CAST referred to the "non-combat losses" of the Russian army in this conflict. The role of road accidents was especially great, they accounted for 9 deaths. Such high losses are explained by the objective difficulty of transferring a large group of troops at high speed along a narrow mountain serpentine, in some cases even at night. So out of the 30 wounded 429th motorized rifle regiment, only two suffered from enemy fire, the rest were injured on the march (severe bruises, fractures, head injuries). Of the 9 wounded of the 292nd mixed artillery regiment, 8 were injured in an accident. At the same time, the 70, 71, 135 and 693 motorized rifle regiments, well prepared for operations in mountainous terrain, took to their positions without suffering significant non-combat losses. The total number of Russian army soldiers wounded as a result of the conflict ranges from 170 to 340; it is difficult to determine them more precisely.
Losses in people, Georgia
As noted by the head of the CAST, Ruslan Pukhov, unlike us, the Georgian Ministry of Defense published a surname list of the dead and missing in less than a month after the conflict. Subsequently, it was regularly updated and clarified, as the fate of the missing was clarified and the remains were identified. This list, in addition to names and surnames, contains military ranks and affiliation with military units. According to the director of the CAST, the data presented in it are quite complete and accurate.
During the conflict, the Georgian military lost 170 people killed and missing, and 14 Georgian police officers were also killed. The number of injured reached 1,964, including reservists and the police. Such a large ratio of the wounded to the dead, more than 10 to 1, is explained by the widespread use of modern personal protective equipment (helmets, body armor) in the Georgian army. The bulk of the wounded received shrapnel wounds from the actions of Russian aviation and artillery fire. In these conditions, personal protective equipment proved to be quite effective. According to the Georgians, the sanitary and evacuation services worked well, and in the immediate vicinity of the conflict zone there were well-prepared stationary hospitals and hospitals, which made it possible to reduce the mortality rate among the wounded to 2%.
Losses in equipment, Russia
The most complete list of losses of Russian equipment is also provided by the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. From 8 to 12 August, our units on the territory of South Ossetia lost 3 tanks, up to 20 light armored vehicles and 6 aircraft, this information is based on the study of photo and video materials from the conflict zone, media materials, memories of combatants.
So during the conflict, Russia lost three tanks: T72B (M), T-72B and one T-62. All of them were destroyed by enemy fire. Light tracked and wheeled armored vehicles suffered more tangible losses - about 20 units. Among them are nine BMP-1, three BMP-2, two BTR-80, one BMD-2, three BRDM-2 and one MT-LB6 tractor. Artillery means, MLRS and air defense systems were not lost.
Losses in vehicles were high. Only in the camp of peacekeepers, as a result of artillery shelling and tank fire, all the equipment located there was destroyed, and this is about 20 units. 10 GAZ-66 trucks of mortar batteries of the 693rd and 135th regiments were destroyed by enemy artillery fire. Two Ural-4320 trucks were destroyed on August 11 in the daytime as a result of an attack by a Georgian Mi-24 helicopter. A number of other trucks were lost in serious accidents.
During the hostilities, three Su-25s, two Su-24s and one Tu-22M3 were lost, after the end of the conflict, two Mi-24 and Mi-8 MTKO helicopters crashed as a result of accidents. Of these planes, 2 were reliably shot down by enemy air defenses, 3 became victims of "friendly fire", it was not possible to determine who shot down the last one. In addition, 4 more Russian Su-25 attack aircraft were seriously damaged, but were able to return to the bases.
Losses in equipment, Georgia
During the active phase of hostilities, the combat fleet of Georgia was completely destroyed, the losses amounted to 2 missile boats, 5 patrol boats and a number of smaller vessels. The aviation lost three An-2 transport helicopters, three Mi-24 helicopters and one Mi-14, while the Mi-24 helicopters were occasionally used by the Georgian army until the very end of the conflict. Georgia has not lost a single combat or training aircraft, and there is an explanation for this. Georgian aviation appeared over the battlefield only once in the morning of August 8, after which the aircraft did not rise into the air and were dispersed and camouflaged at the airfields.
In the battles, 15 Georgian tanks were destroyed, about 20 more were burned after being captured at the scene of hostilities, about 30 tanks were retained by the Russian army as trophies, most of the T-72s. In addition to tanks, the Georgians lost four BMP-2s, four Turkish-made Cobra armored vehicles and three BTR-80s. As trophies, Russia captured fifteen BMP-1U and two BMP-2. The artillery of Georgia lost four self-propelled 203 mm. howitzers "Pion" and two "Dans" of Czech production. One "Peony", two "Dans" and about 20 non-self-propelled guns of various calibers were captured by the Russian army as trophies.
