Ryan Grist is a former British Army Captain who served as Acting Head of Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Georgia during the breakout of the 2008 South Ossetia war.
Grist concluded that, before the Russian bombardment began, "Georgian rockets and artillery were hitting civilian areas in the breakaway region of South Ossetia every 15 or 20 seconds".
[5] He was particularly critical of the Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia, Ambassador Terhi Hakala (who was on holiday in Finland at the time of the conflict), for her reluctance to take a firm position regarding the dangerous buildup of Georgian military forces around South Ossetia in the weeks before the conflict, the use of sniper attacks into South Ossetia by Georgian forces, and the use of indirect fire weapons by Georgia.
"[7] Contrary to Grist's assertions, journalists documented dozens of eyewitnesses accounts confirming that pro-Moscow separatist forces had indeed been shelling the Georgian villages before 7 August.
The eyewitness accounts were consistent with the 5 August 2008 report issued by a joint monitoring group including OSCE observers and representatives of Russian peacekeepers in the region.
The report, signed by the commander of Russian peacekeepers General Marat Kulakhmetov, said there was evidence of attacks against ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ryan Grist said that on 12 August he went to visit a friend in Tskhinvali, Lira Tskhovrebova, who was well connected with the separatist authorities.
[1] In December 2008, an investigation by the Associated Press alleged that Lira Tskhovrebova was not an independent activist as she claimed and was connected to South Ossetian KGB and by extension the Russian intelligence services.