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O 130954Z AUG 08
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USNATO 000285 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: NATO PREL MOPS GG RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR DECRIES HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN 
SOUTH OSSETIA 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary: In an August 11 letter to the NATO Deputy 
Secretary General (see para 2 for full text), Russian 
Ambassador to NATO Dmitri Rogozin accused the Georgian army 
of creating an ongoing humanitarian disaster in South 
Ossetia.  Specifically, he asserted that the Georgian army 
killed 2.5 thousand civilians in a spree of carpet bombing, 
ethnic cleansing, and mass shootings, and this has caused 
35,000 South Ossetians to take refuge in North Ossetia.  He 
said 17 Russian peacekeepers have been killed, 14 reported 
missing, and 150 with severe or moderate wounds; and he 
accused Georgian forces of destroying the water supply in 
Tskhinvali and holding Russian citizens under house arrest. 
In addition, he then outlined Russian humanitarian 
assistance, including the establishment of an EMERCOM mobile 
hospital.  Conspicuously absent is any mention of or 
justification for Russian aggression.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Begin Text 
 
Dear Ambassador, 
 
I would like to inform you about the scale of the ongoing 
humanitarian disaster in South Ossetia as a result of the 
actions of Georgian armed forces.  In our opinion the 
statistics given below is not appropriately reflected in 
world mass media or only biased opinion is presented.  Since 
the start of hostilities on the night of 7/8 August more than 
2.5 thousand of civilians have been killed.  Such a 
significant number of casualties could be explained by 
"carpet bombing" of the city asleep, ethnic cleansing and 
mass shooting of civilians in South Ossetian villages 
captured by Georgian army.  The number of refugees who have 
reached safe haven in North Ossetia is close to 35 thousand. 
 10 to 17 thousand people fled from Tskhinvali and now are 
seeking shelter in villages controlled by South Ossetian 
authorities.  Between 9 and 15 thousand people remain under 
debris of practically destroyed capital of South Ossetia and 
suffer desperate conditions.  Many of them require immediate 
medical assistance. 
 
The number of casualties of Russian peacekeepers has reached 
17, 14 are reported missing and more than 150 got severe or 
moderate wounds.  Medical assistance for them is provided in 
field or stationary hospitals.  This data is approximate 
since the hostilities are underway.  However it is obvious 
that if the hostilities are not ceased, the above-mentioned 
appalling figures may definitely grow. 
 
We have found out that the Georgian authorities are holding 
Russian citizens who happened to be on either personal or 
business matters in Georgia during these days under house 
arrest. 
 
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the 
Georgian side intentionally prevents search, rescue and 
evacuation actions on territories captured by Georgian 
forces, though inter alia, shelling the convoys of refugees 
and wounded.  Many of them are civilians, mostly women and 
children.  Due to the actions of the Georgian side people are 
bleeding to death as the necessary help could not have been 
delivered. 
 
Immediately after the start of the hostilities has become a 
fact the Russian government took urgent measures to help the 
victims.  A camp capable of housing no less than 2.5 thousand 
refugees has been deployed in the immediate vicinity of the 
border between North and South Ossetia.  The Russian EMERCOM 
mobile hospital has been running for two days, and the 
Russian Ministry of Health,s hospital has also been deployed 
on South Ossetian border.  Today in Tskhinval an EMERCOM 
squad of 273 people, 50 of them are doctors, is conducting 
its mission.  An EMERCOM hospital is expected to be fully 
deployed by today,s evening in the north of Tskhinval.  More 
than 340 tonnes of medical supplies and food stuff have been 
sent to the region and are already being distributed.  More 
than 200 million dollars have been allocated by the Russian 
government with the aim to prevent the escalation of 
humanitarian disaster and to conduct urgent reconstruction 
works. 
 
Unfortunately we are not aware of any actions taken by the 
Georgian side to prevent the aggravation of this unheard-of 
 
USNATO 00000285  002 OF 002 
 
 
human disaster.  On the contrary, we are receiving 
information that in addition to the vital infrastructure of 
Tskhinval already destroyed by the Georgian artillery, the 
single left bakery has also been recently destroyed.  This 
has aggravated the humanitarian disaster even more. 
Statistics is a very catchy thing.  Even the loss of a single 
human life is a tragedy.  May be in absolute figures the 
number of casualties is not as high as, for example, the 
number of casualties in the recent natural disasters in 
Myanmar and China.  But if you recall that the population of 
South Ossetia was 120 thousand people, 43 thousand of them 
living in the capital, you can see the real scale of the 
catastrophe.  Actually the whole population of the Republic 
of Ossetia can be considered the victim of the Saakashvili 
regime only because most of them were born Ossetians.  Even 
judging by preliminary data one can call it a pre-planned 
genocide, unprecedented since the World War II.  The most 
gruesome thing is that this tragedy was not caused by natural 
disaster, but due to carefully planned and ill-intended 
actions of the present Georgian authorities and their tutors. 
 
In the last hours we have received information that the 
Georgian armed forces have deliberately destroyed the 
water-supply station in Tskhinval.  This has led to the 
flooding of apartment basements in the nearby area and 
presumably caused death of civilians that were hiding there. 
If this information is confirmed, this would be another proof 
of inhumane actions of the Georgian armed forces against 
civilian population. 
 
Dear Ambassador, 
 
You are kindly requested to circulate this letter among the 
delegations of NATO member countries so that they could to 
take into consideration reliable data when making conclusions 
about the situation in South Ossetia.  We hope that our 
assessments would concur because, finally, one should call a 
spade a spade. 
 
Sincerely yours, 
 
¶D. Rogozin 
Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to NATO 
 
End text. 
VOLKER