As a result of Georgia's August 7-8 attack on South Ossetia, provincial capital Tskhinvali was largely destroyed, and gas and electricity were cut off. Prior to the conflict, Georgia had cut off the water supply.
"The actions of Tbilisi in shutting down the pipeline can only be called deliberate economic pressure on South Ossetia, and a violation of international humanitarian law," Anvar Azimov told a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council.
Gas had been supplied to the republic through the Gori-Tskhinvali pipeline, which leads from Russia to South Ossetia via Georgia. Georgia claimed supplies had stopped due to pipeline damage.
The Russian envoy also called on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to "do everything possible to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe... We hope that the necessary signals will be sent to Tbilisi from the EU countries, the U.S., and Georgia's other allies."
Speaking at a session of the OSCE foreign ministers in Helsinki last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voiced concern over reports that OSCE representatives had known beforehand of Georgia's August offensive on South Ossetia, but failed to take action.
The Georgian attack on South Ossetia led to a Russian military response to "force Georgia to peace." Two weeks after the end of this operation, Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another rebel republic, as independent states. So far, only Nicaragua has followed suit.
