Late on Aug. 7, 2008, Mikheil Saakashvili, then the Georgian president, ordered his troops to retake control of the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, including shelling the regional capital, Tskhinvali. Within hours, Russian troops - who had been conducting exercises on South Ossetia's border - were pouring through the Roki tunnel beneath the Caucasus Mountains, launching Russia's five-day war with Georgia.
Financial Times: Russia stirs fears of repeat Georgia war in Ukraine
Ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili visits EuroMaidan protesters on Kyiv's Independence Square in December, 2013, Kyiv, Ukraine.
