Georgia’s response to the “Russian aggression” was “proportionate, necessary and wholly justified,” the ministry said in a report released today in the capital Tbilisi. The government had “no choice but to counter what was rapidly becoming an invasion with aims that far exceeded the dispute over two Georgian territories.”

Russia routed Georgia’s U.S.-trained army in the five-day war over the separatist region of South Ossetia. In the aftermath of the conflict, Moscow recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway region, as sovereign states, a move condemned by the U.S. and many European countries. The war caused $1 billion in damage to Georgia’s $12.8 billion economy.

War erupted between Georgia and Russia on Aug. 8, 2008, after months of rising tensions over South Ossetia. Russia maintains that it sent troops into the region in response to a Georgian assault on civilians and Russian peacekeepers. Georgia insists that Russia invaded late on Aug. 7, forcing it to launch a counter-offensive.

Energy ‘Backbone’

Georgian Prime Minister Nika Gilauri said Russia attacked Georgia as the “backbone of energy transit” from Central Asia to Europe and tried to bomb pipelines, including two operated by BP Plc. Russia denied targeting the pipelines. BP said it’s unaware of any attacks.

“This report is ridiculous because the government is responsible for this war,” Kakha Kukava, head of the opposition Conservative Party, said by telephone. “We don’t trust such reports. There’s never been an independent commission on the war.”

A Georgian parliamentary commission in December found “major flaws” in the government’s handling of the war, concluding that Russia’s “intervention” was “well-planned” and that Tbilisi was “clearly unprepared for aggression on such a large scale.”

The commission, which questioned 22 senior government officials, including Saakashvili, said Russia sent more than 11,000 soldiers into Georgia during the conflict. Russian state- run news service RIA Novosti reported that 10,000 soldiers were deployed at the peak of the conflict.

‘Inhuman Attack’

Russia today renewed its criticism of Georgia’s “inhuman attack” on South Ossetians and Russian peacekeepers, calling Georgia’s military operation in the region a “pre-planned criminal act,” the Foreign Ministry said on its Web site.

Russia “insists” that Georgia sign a legally binding non- aggression pact with South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the ministry said.

The Russian military has deployed about 2,240 soldiers in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of Russia’s General Staff, said yesterday. Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said this number may increase to about 3,000 by the end of the year, RIA Novosti reported.

Karasin said the Federal Security Service, which defends the two regions’ borders under a five-year agreement signed in April, has deployed about 1,000 border guards in Abkhazia and as many as 800 in South Ossetia.

Tbilisi lies about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the de facto border with South Ossetia.

On Aug. 4, Russia placed its soldiers and border guards in South Ossetia on alert in response to Georgian “provocations,” which Nogovitsyn estimated at more than 70 near South Ossetia and 50 near Abkhazia. Georgia denies the Russian claims.

Georgia today accused Russia of unleashing an information war as the first anniversary of the war approaches.