High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Occupation of Gori was the takeover of the Georgian city of Gori and its surrounding villages by Russian military forces, which commenced on August 13, 2008 as part of the 2008 South Ossetian War, and ended with the withdrawal of Russian units from the city by 22 August 2008. Gori is a Georgian city close to the border with the breakaway province of South Ossetia. It was the staging area for the Georgian army during the Battle of Tskhinvali and was bombed several times by the Russian Air Force. On August 9, the bombs hit a residential district of the city near the local military base, destroying and damaging several apartment buildings and a school, killing and injuring many. According to the Georgian Government, 60 were killed.