The debate continues unabated – e. g. S. Georg 2004, A. Vovin 2005, S. Georg 2005 ( anti-Altaic ); S. Starostin 2005, V. Blažek 2006, M. Robbeets 2007, A. Dybo and G. Starostin 2008 ( pro-Altaic ).

* 2008 – 2008 Egyptian general strike starts led by Egyptian workers later to be adopted by April 6 Youth Movement and Egyptian activities.

* 1931 – Ivan Dixon, American actor and director ( d. 2008 )

* 1934 – Guy Peellaert, Belgian artist and photographer ( d. 2008 )

* 1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television host ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and one of his sisters.

* 1914 – Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, and painter ( d. 2008 )

* 1923 – Francis Tucker, South African race car driver ( d. 2008 )

* 1932 – Cor Brom, Dutch footballer and manager ( d. 2008 )

* 1970 – Karl Unterkircher, Italian mountaineer ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d ' état in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.

* 2008 – Competition in the 2008 Summer Olympics in China proceeded with the women's association football tournament.

* 1955 – Gregory Bryant-Bey, American convicted murderer ( d. 2008 )

* 1965 – Mark Speight, English television host ( d. 2008 )

* 1935 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress ( d. 2008 )

* 1976 – Mark Priestley, Australian actor ( d. 2008 )

* 2005 – Caylee Anthony, American murder victim ( d. 2008 )

Bilateral trade with Russia stood at more than $ 700 million for the first nine months of 2010 – on track to rebound to $ 1 billion mark first reached in 2008 prior to the global economic crisis.

Over half of the tax revenues in the January – August 2008 time period were generated from value-added taxes ( VAT ).

* 2008 – South Ossetian War: Russian units occupy the Georgian city of Gori.

* 1931 – Eddie Fuller, South African cricketer ( d. 2008 )

* 2008 – Jake Warren, Canadian diplomat ( b. 1921 )

* 1936 – Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer ( d. 2008 )

* 1918 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer and Soviet dissident, Nobel Prize laureate ( d. 2008 )

* 1953 – Aleksandr Abdulov, Russian actor ( d. 2008 )

* December 11 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate ( d. 2008 )

** Aleksandr Abdulov, Russian actor ( d. 2008 )

The Director of FSB, since 2008, is Aleksandr Bortnikov.

Aleksandr Bortnikov took over on 12 May 2008.

* Aleksandr Bortnikov, since 12 May 2008

* December 11-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer ( died 2008 )

His other books include St. Petersburg: A Cultural History ( 1995 ), Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship Between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator ( 2004 ), The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn ( 2008 ), and Romanov Riches: Russian Writers and Artists Under the Tsars ( 2011 ).

Bouis, Antonina W., The Magical Chorus: A History of Russian Culture from Tolstoy to Solzhenitsyn ( New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2008 ).

Since early 2008, Armenia's entire rail network is managed by the Russian state railway.

In October 2008 the Russian bank Gazprombank, the banking arm of Gazprom, acquired 100 percent of Armenian bank Areximbank after previously buying 80 percent of said bank in November 2007 and 94. 15 percent in July of the same year.

In the obituary of Michael Andreevich Romanoff, the highest-ranking member of the Russian imperial family at the time of his death in 2008, it was noted that his family spent most of WWII at Craigowan Lodge.

Claude Piron ( 26 February 1931 – 22 January 2008 ) was a psychologist and a translator for the United Nations ( from Chinese, English, Russian and Spanish into French ) from 1956 to 1961.

* 2008 – Yegor Letov, Russian song writer and singer ( Grazhdanskaya Oborona ) ( b. 1964 )

Due to reforms and liberalization of economy policy Georgia shows exceptional resilience to external shocks – Russian invasion in 2008 and global financial crisis.

*-Eight Georgian HMMWVs were seized by Russian forces during the 2008 South Ossetia War.

* 1989 – Alexei Cherepanov, Russian hockey player ( d. 2008 )

On 3 November 2008 a work by Malevich entitled Suprematist Composition from 1916 set the world record for any Russian work of art and any work sold at auction for that year, selling at Sotheby ’ s in New York City for just over $ 60 million U. S. ( far surpassing his previous record of $ 17 million set in 2000 ).

A recent Russian promise to supply Lebanon with T-90 tanks has been in discussion since the Lebanese Defense Minister's last visit to Russia on December 16, 2008.

* Evan Mawdsley, The Russian Civil War ( Birlinn, 2008 )

On April 11, 2008, Russian officials unveiled a monument to Laika.

XIII Congress of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in 2008

On 15 August 2008, during the 2008 South Ossetia war, Nord Stream, a Russian gas project, announced that it had signed a consulting contract with Lipponen.

In an article published in October 2008, Lipponen discussed the Russian response in Georgia and warned Europe of its dependence on Russian gas.

Three years later, on 22 November 2008, the Russian government adopted a revised strategy, extending to 2030.

On April 30, 2008, Russian forensic scientists announced that DNA testing proves that the remains belong to the Tsarevich Alexei and to one of his sisters.

South Korea plans the first domestic launch of a satellite in 2008, with Russian assistance.