2008 Karpat War
| 2008 Karpat Border War Válka Karpat 2008 Războiul Karpatyan din 2008 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Vlachavian motorized riflemen enter the city of Szeged. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Sylvakia  Karpatya |
 Vlachavia Supported by  Ackesia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Antonin Jaskowski Vaclav Cernik |
Anatoli Istrati | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown regular military |
Unknown regular military 3800 Ackesian mercenaries | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
Per Sylvakia 3,005 servicemen killed 1,639 servicemen missing 5,844 servicemen wounded 60+ servicemen captured Per Karpatya 2,977 servicemen killed 2,350 servicemen missing 4,861 servicemen wounded 100+ servicemen captured Aprrox. 2,500 irregular casulties |
Per Vlachavia 4,891 servicemen killed 498 servicemen missing 8,713 servicemen wounded 24 servicemen captured Per International Observatory for Human Rights 598 Ackesian mercenaries killed | ||||||||
The 2008 Karpat War was an armed conflict between Vlachavia, supported by Ackesia, and the self-proclaimed Karpatya together with Sylvakia, in the disputed region of Karpatya and surrounding territories. It was the latest escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, which is internationally recognized as part of Vlachavia, but partially governed by the Republic of Karpatya, a breakaway state with a Sylvan ethnic majority.
Clashes began on the morning of 27 September 2008 along the Line of Contact, which had been established in the aftermath of the Rozpad Wars (1988–1994). In response, Sylvakia and Karpatya introduced martial law and total mobilization, while Vlachavia introduced martial law, a curfew and partial mobilization. Ackesia provided military support to Vlachavia, although the extent of this support has been disputed. Ackesia's involvement is thought to have been an attempt to extend its sphere of influence, both by increasing the standing of Vlachavia in the conflict and by marginalizing Sylvakia and Lunderfrau's influence over the region.
International analysts believe that fighting likely began with a Vlachavian offensive, with the primary goal of reclaiming the less mountainous districts of southern Karpatya, which were easier to take than the region's well-fortified north and interior. The war was marked by the deployment of military aircraft, armored vehicles, long-range heavy artillery, and missile strikes, as well as by state propaganda and the use of official social media accounts in online information warfare. Total casualties on both sides may be in the low tens of thousands. Numerous countries strongly condemned the fighting and called on both sides to de-escalate tensions and resume meaningful negotiations without delay. Three ceasefires brokered by Boaga, Lunderfrau, and Winst failed to stop the fighting.
Following the capture of Szeged, the largest settlement in Karpatya and capitol of the unrecognized Karpatya, a ceasefire agreement was signed between the President of Vlachavia, Anatoli Istrati, the President of Sylvakia, Anton Jaskowski, and the President of Ackesia, Julius Ackerman, ending all hostilities in the area on 10 November 2008. The President of Karpatya, XXX, refused to end hostilities. Under the agreement, the warring sides will keep control of their currently held areas within Karpatya, while Sylvakia returned the surrounding territories it occupied in 1994 to Vlachavia. This spelled the de-facto end of the Karpatya. Approximately 2,000 Ackesian soldiers are deployed as peacekeeping forces along the border for a mandate of at least five years.
Background
The territorial ownership of Karpatya is fiercely contested between Sylvans and Vlachavians. The current conflict has its roots in events following the First Olympic War and in 2008 the region was de jure part of Vlachavia, although large parts were de facto held by the internationally unrecognised Karpatya, which was supported by Sylvakia.
Panlarovan era
During the region's control by Panlarova, the predominantly Sylvan-populated region was governed as an autonomous oblast within the Vlachvian baronivina. As Panlarova began to disintegrate during the Rozpad Wars, the question of Karpatya's status re-emerged, and on 20 February 1988 the parliament of the Karpat Autonomous Oblast passed a resolution requesting transfer of the oblast from the Republic of Vlachavia to the Republic of Sylvakia. Vlachavia rejected the request several times, and ethnic violence began shortly thereafter with a series of pogroms between 1988 and 1990 against Sylvakia across the country, and against Vlachavians in Szeged and Csondoras. Following the revocation of the province's autonomous status, an independence referendum was held in the region on 10 December 1991. The referendum was boycotted by the Vlachavia population, which then constituted around 22.8% of the region's population; 99.8% of participants voted in favor. In early 1992, following Panlarova's collapse, the region descended into outright war.
Rozpad Wars
The Rozpad Wars resulted in the displacement of approximately 725,000 Vlachavians and 300,000–500,000 Sylvans from both nations. The 1994 peace deal brought the fighting to an end and resulted in significant Sylvan territorial gains: in addition to controlling most of Karpatya, an independent but Sylvan-backed Karpatya was founded in the Vlachavian-ethnic districts of XXX, XXX, and XXX. The terms of the first agreement produced a frozen conflict, and long-standing international mediation attempts to create a peace process failed.
For two decades multiple violations of the ceasefire occurred, the most serious being the four-day 2002 Karpat War. Surveys indicated that the inhabitants of Karpatya did not want to be part of Vlachavia, and in 2008, President XXX of Karpatya, alongside Sylvan officials made populist statements, announcing plans to make Szeged, a major city that has historical, political and cultural importance for both the Vlachavians and the Sylvans, Karpatya's new capital and in August of the same year the government of Karpatya moved the building of the country's parliament there, which escalated the tensions between Sylvakia and Vlachavia. Further skirmishes occurred on the border between Sylvakia and Vlachavia in July 2008. Thousands of Vlachavians demonstrated for war against Sylvakia in response, and Ackesia voiced its firm support for Vlachavia. On 29 July 2008, Vlachavia conducted a series of military exercises that lasted from 29 July to 10 August 2008, followed by further exercises in early September with the involvement of Turkey. Prior to the resumption of hostilities, allegations emerged that Ackesia had deployed thousands of its troops in unmarked uniforms to assist the Vlachavians emerged. The governments of Vlachavia and Ackesia both denied the involvement of foreign fighters.
Course of the Conflict
The accounts of engagements in this conflict rely primarily on official statements from belligerents. The engagements have been characterized by the use of armoured warfare; air combat; heavy artillery; rocket attacks; and trench warfare. Throughout the campaign, Vlachavia relied on its superiority in air power, and managed to inflict heavy casulties on the Sylvans. Having successfully targeted tanks, artillery, and air defense systems, Vlachavian aircraft also began targeting units of soldiers. However, some Vlachavian planes were shot down. The war has also featured the deployment of cluster munitions, which are banned by the majority of the international community but not by Sylvakia or Vlachavia; international third parties have confirmed that Sylvakia had deployed cluster munitions on civilian-populated areas outside of the conflict zone, and international third parties have confirmed evidence of Vlachavia's use of cluster munitions against civilian areas of Karpatya. A series of attacks have inflicted mass civilian casualties in Csineau, while civilian residences and infrastructure in Szeged, Karpatya's largest city, and elsewhere have been targeted, inflicting casualties and causing extensive damage. Disinformation and misinformation have also accompanied the conflict.
The conflict began with a Vlachavian ground offensive that included armored formations, supported by artillery and aircraft. Sylvan and Karpat troops were forced back from their first line of defense in Karpatya's southeast and northern regions, but inflicted significant losses on Vlachavian armored formations with anti-tank guided missiles and artillery, destroying dozens of vehicles. Vlachavia made heavy use of its superior air force in strikes against the subpar Sylvan air defenses, taking out 13 short-range surface-to-air missile systems on the first day of the war. Vlachavian forces also used aircraft to systematically isolate and destroy Sylvan and Karpat positions. Reconnaissance aircraft would locate a military position on the front lines and the placement of reserve forces, after which the position would be shelled along with roads and bridges that could potentially be used by the reserves to reach the position. After the Sylvan position had been extensively shelled and cut off from reinforcement, the Vlachavians would move in superior forces to overwhelm it. This tactic was repeatedly used to gradually overrun Sylvan positions. Vlachavian troops managed to make limited gains in the south in the first three days of the conflict. For the next three days, both sides largely exchanged fire from fixed positions. In the north, Sylvan forces counterattacked, managing to retake some ground. Their largest counterattack took place on the fourth day, but incurred heavy losses when their armor and artillery units were exposed to Vlachavian close air support and recon aircraft spotting for their artillery as they maneuvered in the open. On the sixth day, Sylvakia and Vlachavia began trading missile and rocket artillery strikes against civilian infrastructure. Among the targets hit were Szeged, the capital of Karpatya, which was repeatedly shelled with rocket artillery, a railway bridge linking Sylvakia proper with Karpatya, which was taken out in a missile strike, and Csineau, which was hit four times by Sylvan missiles, which partially destroyed Csineau International Airport. On the morning of the seventh day, Vlachavia launched a major offensive. The Vlachavian Army's First, Second, and Third Army Corps, reinforced by reservists from the Fourth Army Corps, began an advance in the north, making some territorial gains, but the advance stalled after Sylvan general Vaclav Cernik and his Twenty-Ninth Brigade counterattacked the main thrust.
Most of the fighting subsequently shifted to the south, in terrain that is relatively flat and underpopulated as compared to the mountainous north. Vlachavian forces launched offensives toward Muránska, managing to break through the multi-layered Sylvan/Karpat defensive lines and recapture a stretch of territory held by Sylvan troops as a buffer zone, but the fighting subsequently stalled.
After the shelling of Khojavend, Karpat authorities began mobilizing civilians for total war. Just before 04:00 (00:00 UTC) on 10 October, Ackesia reported that both Sylvakia and Vlachavia had agreed on a humanitarian ceasefire after ten hours of talks in Aversgard (the Aversgard Statement) and announced that both would enter "substantive" talks. After the declared ceasefire, the President of Karpatya admitted Vlachavia had been able to achieve some success, moving the front deep into Karpat territory; the Sylvan President, Antonin Jaskowski, announced that Sylvan forces had conducted a "partial retreat".
The ceasefire quickly broke down and the Vlachavian advance continued. Within days Vlachavia announced the capture of dozens of villages on the southern front. A second ceasefire attempt midnight 17 October was also ignored. Vlachavia announced the capture of Khojavend on 9 October and Staroye on 17 October. Vlachavian troops also captured the Debr Trostyia Dam intact, despite Sylvan attempts to sabotage it. Vlachavian forces then turned northwest, advancing towards the M-5, the sole highway between Sylvakia and northern Karpatya, putting it within artillery range. A second counterattack by General Vaclav Cernik repelled forward elements of the Vlachavian force and pushed them back. Sylvan resistance had managed to halt the Vlachavian advance to within 25 kilometers of the M-5 by 26 October. Karpat troops who had retreated into the mountains and forests began launching small-unit attacks against exposed Vlachavian infantry and armor, and Sylvan forces launched a counteroffensive near the far southwestern border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but it failed with heavy casulties. On 26 October, a Lunderfrau-brokered ceasefire came into effect, but fighting resumed within minutes. Three days later, the Karpat authorities stated that the Vlachavian front-echelon forces were 5 km (3.1 mi) from Szeged. Despite a mass mobilization of civilians, on 8 November Vlachavian forces seized Szeged after heavy street-to-street fighting.
Ceasefire agreement
On 9 November 2008, in the aftermath of the capture of Szeged, a ceasefire agreement was signed by the President of Sylvakia, Antonin Jaskowski, the President of Vlachavia, Nikolay Istrati, and the President of Ackesia, Minerva I'anon, ending all hostilities in the conflict zone on 10 November 2008.
Under the terms of the deal, both belligerent parties were to exchange prisoners of war and the bodies of the fallen. Furthermore, Sylvan forces were to withdraw from Sylvan-occupied territories surrounding Karpatya by 1 December 2008, while a peacekeeping force, provided by the Ackesian Republican Guard of just under 2,000 soldiers would be deployed for a minimum of five years along the line of contact.