Russian-occupied territories

Russian-occupied territories are the territories which have been designated as occupied territories under Russian military control by Government of Georgia and a part of international community. The term "Russian-occupied territories" is used to denote Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
After 2008 South Ossetia war, on 26 August 2008, President Medvedev signed decrees recognising the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign states. Russia established diplomatic relations with these partially recognised states and placed Russian troops in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian security forces were deployed along the demarcation lines with Georgia.
The Georgian parliament unanimously passed a resolution on August 28 2008 formally declaring Abkhazia and South Ossetia Russian-occupied territories, and calling Russian troops occupying forces. The law forbids entry into the regions from Russia and subjects violators to a fine or imprisonment.
In April of 2010, the Georgian parliament’s foreign affairs committee appealed to legislative bodies of 31 countries, asking to declare Georgia’s two regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia as territories under Russian occupation and to recognize that the massive displacement of civilians from those regions by Russia amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Russia has recently requested Georgia to abolish the law.
International criticism of Russian military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia
After Georgia's decision about Russian presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, other countries and international organizations followed and recognised Russian military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Military Occupation.
The first foreign country to recognise Russian military occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, was Lithuania. In June 2010, the Lithuanian Seimas adopted a resolution condemning Russian aggression and occupation of Georgian territories.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asserted that Russia is occupying parts of Georgia and building permanent military bases in contravention of the truce during a visit to Tbilisi in 2010.
In November 2010, NATO Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution containing the terms ‘occupation’ and ‘ethnic cleansing’, thus recognising Russian military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia as military occupation.
In December 2010, the U.S. Senate discussed a resolution called ‘Resolution on Occupation’. It was prepared by Jean Shaheen, representative from New Hampshire. The draft expressed support fpr Georgia’s territorial integrity and recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as ‘regions occupied by the Russian Federation.’
In July 2011 the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution introduced by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) affirming U.S. support for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the country of Georgia and calling upon Russia to remove its occupying forces from Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In March 2011, a document adopted by the European Parliament once again used the term ‘occupation.’
This document mentions Russia’s occupation of Georgian territories, ethnic cleansing, non-fulfillment of the seize-fire agreement of August 12, 2008, and talks about the necessity to get in place peace keeping forces in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The document also speaks about serious problems in regards to ecology, in relation to the Sochi Olympics.
On 4 March, 2011, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Philip H. Gordon, said that use of term 'occupied' by Washington in reference to Abkhazia and South Ossetia was not meant to be a "provocation", but simply description of situation on the ground.
In August 2011, British MP Bruce George published an article in which he referred to Abkhazia and South Ossetia as territories under the occupation of Russian troops.
In October 2011, the term ‘occupation’ was used in an official European Parliament document, in a report about Georgia.
On 17 November 2011, European Parliament passed the resolution where Russian occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was recognised. The text of the resolution says that Russia should end its occupation of Georgian territory. The resolution asks Russia to live up to the seize-fire agreement signed in 2008. There are several chapters in the resolution.
In July 2012, the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly adopted a document about Georgia, which also described Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Occupied Georgian Territorries. Russian Foreign Ministry reacted harshly, saying that "The majority of deputies in the Assembly (Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE) once again don't wish to objectively accept the realities of the situation today in the Caucasus."
In October 2013, US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf denounced "borderization" by Russian security forces and called South Ossetia "occupied territory in Georgia".
In November 2013, US Ambassador Richard S. Williamson wrote an article about Georgia where he referred to Russian presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia as illegal occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In November 2013, European Commission mentioned the term "occupation" in the report to describe Russian military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
International media about Russian military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia
Many international journalists and media companies, such as Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and Daily Mail have referred to Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Russian occupied territories.

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