Russia, Moscow, 11 August / Trend corr. R.Agayev / Russia uses all available methods to de-escalate the conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia, Anatoliy Nogovitsin, the deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, said at a news conference in Moscow on 11 August.
"Situation is intensifying in the conflict zone in political and military-strategic aspect," Nogovitsin said.
"However, we are keeping under control the situation and are leading it to de-escalation of the conflict," he said. "We [ Russia] lost four SU-25, as well as two high-ranking officers, during the conflict," he said.
According to Nogovitsin, Russia respects the international war laws in this conflict.
Large-scale military operations commenced in the unrecognized South Ossetia republic in the early morning of 8 August. Georgian Army was reported to enter Tskhinvali on 9 August. Official Tbilisi says the events are Restoration of the Constitution Regime. The unrecognized South Ossetia wants assistance from Russia. Mobilization of reserved soldiers was announced in Georgia on 10 August.
According to Russian media, there are dead and wounded amongst Russian peacekeepers. The Georgian side informs about 20 dead servicemen. "There are thousands dead and wounded civil people in South Ossetia," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
The Russian Air Forces intensively bombed Marneuli and Bolnisi cities of Georgia and military bases near Tbilisi. At least four people died during the bombing of the Marneuli airport.
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