Russian President Dmitry Medvedev described on Friday the deployment of Russian troops in the breakaway Georgian republic of South Ossetia in 2008 as one of the hardest decisions of his presidential career.
"Taking that decision as acting president was very difficult, because I couldn't help but realize that some of the troops would not come home," Medvedev told junior pro-Kremlin party members in the central Russian town of Kostroma.
After a five-day war Russia recognized South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian republic, Abkhazia, as independent states. Georgia considers the two regions part of its sovereign territory.
KOSTROMA, May 13 (RIA Novosti)
