“South Ossetia demands the truth from the world community” – South Ossetian President
August 7-8 marks the 12th anniversary of the war around South Ossetia, in which Georgia and Russia participated.
It went down in history as the “August five-day war.”
The Georgian side qualifies the war as an invasion by Russian regular troops, followed by hostilities.
From the Ossetian side, the war is considered Georgian armed aggression.
In the August 2008 war, 365 military and civilians were killed from the Ossetian side, and 412 military and civilians from the Georgian side.
According to Russian official figures, 67 Russian soldiers were also killed.
About 20,000 residents of Georgian villages in the territory of South Ossetia became internally displaced persons.
The Georgian side lost control over 125 villages, and in the follow up South Ossetia and Abkhazia were recognized by Russia as independent states.
• Georgia commemorates 12th anniversary of 2008 war
How South Ossetia and North Ossetia marked the 12th anniversary of the August War
Representatives of the public and the leadership of South Ossetia, including President Anatoly Bibilov, laid wreaths and flowers at the barracks of Russian peacekeepers, which is located on the southern outskirts of Tskhinvali – near the border with Georgia, RES news agency reported.
In memory of the dead, gunfire sounded, and mourning music was played.
Flowers were also laid at the monument “Groans of the Twisted Heart”, which depicts a torn heart, from which a bloody tear is dripping.
The monument is installed in the “Museum of Burnt Souls” in the village of Tbet, at the entrance to the Zarskaia road. This was the only way in August 2008 from Tskhinvali to Russia, where people who were trying to leave the city during the bombing came under fire.
The museum is located in the open air and is a circle of destroyed vehicles.
Here, after the August 2008 war, the monument “Tree of Sorrow” was erected.
A memorial service “for the innocent victims” was held in the museum, people lit candles in memory of the victims.
“The world community must recognize the fact of the genocide of the Ossetian people by Georgia,” said the President of South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov.
“We demand justice and punishment of those responsible for the many victims that were from 1989 to 2008. […] I think that people in the West will open their eyes and punish those responsible for the tragedy of South Ossetia.
We demand that we be given the right to speak at the United Nations, the OSCE, the European Union to tell the truth.”
A demonstration called “Pages of Genocide” was organized in Tskhinvali. A big screen broadcast documentaries about the genocide of the Ossetian people, war footage.
An inscription reading “Genocide 1920-2020” was set up in large letters, which illuminated the square in complete darkness during the demonstration.
Vladikavkaz
A memorial event called “Candle of Memory” was also held at Teatralnaya Square in Vladikavkaz (North Ossetia, RF).
Here the inscription was laid out with candles: “08.08.2008. We remember.”
The participants honored the memory of those killed in the tragic events of August 2008 with a minute of silence.
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