28.04.2009 20:13 | The Tragedy of Tigievs Family

The August Georgian aggression crushed the lives of many happy families. The house of Tigievs family is laden with sorrow too.

- More than three months passed, but I still cannot use to a thought that he is no more… -  Ludmila Mamieva tells about her husband Christopher Tigiev, who died in result of August Georgian aggression. There are tears in her eyes. – Everything in the house reminds of him. He did everything by himself”.

Christopher and Ludmila lived a happy married life. They brought up four children. They had eight grandchildren and a month ago one more grandson was born, but Christopher did not live till this red-letter day.

Christopher Alexsandrovich Tigiev was born in 1948 in Tskhinval. At the age of 7 he lost his father. 12-year-old boy helped his mother to provide a family, made some money during summer holidays. He graduated with honours from Agricultural college in Krasnodar; chemical and biological faculty of South Ossetian Teachers' Training institute and Mining and Smelting college in Vladikavkaz. Many years Christopher Tigiev worked as the chief engineer at Tskhinval factory “Emalprovod”.

On May, 2 of this year he’s turned 60. They celebrated the anniversary together with their relatives and friends. And on August, 8 “Emalprovod” factory should celebrate the  semicentennial from the year of foundation. Christopher prepared for this event, but he didn’t manage to celebrate the anniversary. On the night of August, 8 Georgian army began the attack. Sleeping Tskhinval was under heavy shelling with heavy weaponry. Many innocent civilians were killed. On the night of August, 8 the life of Christopher Tigiev ended in a tragedy. He lived together with his family in the private house at Ostrovsky Street.

28.04.2009 20:10 | Seven months after the August of 2008

Kozaev Jacob Efimovich, born in 1936, Galuanty-kau village, Tskhinval area

Our village Galuanty-kau is situated near the border of South Ossetia and Georgia. On August, 6 of 2008 Georgia began the shelling of village Khetagurovo, which is located near to us. They began to fire with heavy weaponry, tanks, and mortars. Me and my wife, as well as all the residents of our village had to take cover in a basement. On August, 6-8 there was a mortar-shelling of our village from the direction of nearby Georgian village Nikozi.

A few days before my son Nugzar arrived in village and had been there till 9-th. That day we have learned that during all these days Tskhinval was under heavy bombardment and the town is destroyed. My son said he was going to Tskhinval together with neighbour Atsamaz Gagloev to spy out the land. They moved off at about 11 o'clock in the afternoon on August, 9. It was the last time I saw him.

That very day about 13.00 p.m. heavy mortar-shelling of our village began. The mines landed and exploded right next to our house. It’s a miracle that we didn’t suffer. There were five mines landed near to our house in all, a number of big cones ​formed as a result of it. Splinters and shock waves smashed the windows and perforated a roof in several places.

28.04.2009 20:04 | Evgeny Poddubny: “Nobody could imagine such war is possible in the modern world”

August, 2008. Three days of war. 100 days later. The journalists, who were in South Ossetia, tell. Evgeny Poddubny, correspondent for TV Center​

(the fragments).

Without right to live

In the Morning of August, 8 it was already clear that Georgian generals and authorities made war not against their Ossetian colleagues, but against civilians of South Ossetia. The night bombardment of Tskhinval doesn’t give a handle to doubt in this statement. Nobody could imagine such war is possible in the modern world. It’s cruel to attack the night city with “Grad”, to shoot at the people, who were sleeping just because the president of Georgia bluffed them having said that the war wouldn’t be. In no case would such atrocity be justified. It’s a crime. Georgian authorities denied the citizens of South Ossetia the right to live long before the first shot. 

28.04.2009 20:01 | August, 2008. The survivors tell as it was.

Gabatova Rosa Nikolaevna, born in 1949., the resident of settlement Znaur, Znaursky area of RSO.

We live in a suburb of settlement Znaur. My husband works as a security guard in the kindergarten. I work in that kindergarten for 42 years too.

On August, when all this just began, we were here. In the morning of August, 8 we heard the terrible rumble. It was a rumble of military hardware – APC, tanks, etc. I didn1t understand what had happened at first and then I heard their singing. They were singing loudly any marches in Georgian.

I was very frightened: “Well, that’s all - they will kill us!” We changed our clothes for black one. Let them wear the clothes of this color only during all their life! They began to shoot. And then they walked along the streets and shouted that all the Georgians lived in the village could go out, they won’t touch them.

But I am no fool too. “I’ll go with them. They will sure not kill them” – I said to myself. And I went with these Georgians. I took the child next door with me and went with local Georgians. And at that time their soldiers were shooting at our houses, at the kindergarten. They were shooting at the people. And the child said to me: “Oh, they’ll kill us now too. I am afraid, ma'am Rosa!” I was holding him very tightly. I tried to reassure him. It was terrible!..

28.04.2009 19:55 | Azamat Dzhioev`s life was cut short at the age of 25

Azamat Dzhioev`s life was cut short at the age of 25. Dischargeehe Azamat Dzhioev continued his service in the Ministry of Defence. He was in the capacity of the commander of Armored Cavalry group. He was in the rank of captain.

Thetroops gained ground and filled a place near the filling station. Having seen that Azamat Dzhioev knew what to do at once, but the concretebarriers in front of five-storey building did not let him shoot. He ran out into the street and shot from a grenade launcher at the filling station, it exploded and lighted up. Later they found here four burnt corpses of Georgian soldiers. Just then Georgian tank aimed the muzzle at the direction of the buildings. Azamat managed to load his grenade launcher and ran out into the road again. He shot at the tank, hit it, but could not put it out of action.

This time the tank aimed the muzzle at the corner of the house, where Azamat was. He load his grenade launcher fast and shot again - at the same time the tank shot. It was the last shot of this tank, because the shell hit its target. Azamat was killed on the spot, but the tank was damaged too. 

21.04.2009 20:18 | They died in result of artillery bombardment

The scale of August tragedy horrifies: more than thousand civilians became the victims of the monstrous military action which had been organized by Georgian army against South Ossetian people.

Those bloody August days became fatal for Avetik Tedeev and Garik Gubieva, the neighbours lived at Alan Dzhioev Street, 187.

Both of them lived peaceful life with their families. As the neighbours say, Avetik Tedeev was about sixty years old. For a long time he worked at “Emalprovod” factory in Tskhinval. In his youth he also worked for “Dzau” newspaper as a reporter. He wrote articles for the regional newspaper “Soveton Iriston”.  He was many-sided personality and showed his talent in other creative profession – the choreography. For some years he danced in the state ensemble “Simd”. Avetik Tedeev was held in high respect. As a honest worker of “Emalprovod” factory he was twice elected to the City Council.

His younger neighbour 31-year-old Garik Gubiev for many years carried out his service in a home guard. He got married not long ago and was happy with his wife Madina Tshovrebova. They were bringing up the 2-year-old son and 6-month-old doughter.

21.04.2009 20:14 | Tragedy of South Ossetia. Gatikoev Tolik Yakovlevich

Gatikoev Tolik Yakovlevich, born in 1956, resident of village Hundisuban, Znaursky area of RSO, On August, 8 he was captured by Georgian soldiers

On August, 7, I grazed the cattle. In the evening I was going home, but it was already impossible. They were shooting, the war was already in full swing. We spend the night somehow. In the morning I went to search for my son, he wasn’t at home for nine days. I was going to the district center - settlement Znaur. On my way there I met my acquaintance, who said that Georgians were already running riot in the settlement: they beat the natives up unmercifully and killed one person – Ioseb Odikadze. My acquaintance suggested me to try to bury him in order that his body was not eaten by dogs. We went together to a place where Ioseb was killed. We reached Znaur but didn’t find the body.

There, in Znaur, I was captured by Georgians. They tied my arms to the right knee with a wire. Then they brought one more person. When the darkness fell, they took us somewhere. I did not know where we were going, but they wanted to kill us. “Well, with whose head shall we play football” - They were saying to each other.  I have already said goodbye to my life. One of them wanted to slaughter us. But the other man answered that it would be too easy. He wanted to bury us alive. They tortured us so that I can not even tell about it. They didn’tgiveuswateroranythingelse.

21.04.2009 20:10 | The splinters have torn his body to pieces

It’s terrible to imagine a state of a mother who found her son’s body torn to pieces… She gave him birth, brought up; he was the meaning and stimulus of her life... The resident of Tskhinval city Etery Dzhioeva, who lost her dear son Alan Ataev (born in 1971) in the days of tragic August events, suffered this terrible fate. Georgian aggression took the dearest people: sons, daughters, relatives from many mothers...

Alan Ataev (Atos) lived and worked in Tskhinval. He worked as a dentalprothetist at the private dental clinic “Fidar” on

On the eve of hostilities Alan sent his wife and son to Vladikavkaz and stayed in Tskhinval together with his parents and the sister, who lived at Stalin's street, opposite to a building of the pediatric polyclinic.

Etery, depressed at the grief mother of Alan, tells about the tragedy of her family with the tears in her eyes: “At night from the 7^th to the 8^th of August, when Georgian army attacked Tskhinval, we had been at home with my husband, daughter and Alan. Alan was a reservist soldier and wanted to go to a civil guardsmen command post, but I asked him not to leave us, the parents, alone. His father has an akinesia as a result of stress disease, we had to carry him on our hands and I asked my son to help me in nursing. I said him: “You are not hiding and they do not call in. If there is a necessity, you will be called in”.

21.04.2009 20:07 | The Tragedy of Kozaevs Family

There are not only separate citizens in mournful martyrology of the victims of Georgian aggression against South Ossetia, but also the wholes families. One of these lost families was Kozaevs family, which lived at Gennady Dzhabiev Street.

The head of the family Albert Kozaev was a respectable, frugal and kind man. During all his life he worked as a photographer. On Soviet time he worked at a photostudio, and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union he had private practice. Theatrical Square was his favourite place of employment, he photographed the children against the background of a fountain. His old mother Maria Kozaeva, wife Bella and elder brother Irakly lived together with him.

At night from the 7^th to the 8^th of August, when Tskhinval was under heavy shelling, Kozaevs family tried to take cover from the shells. As the neighbours said, in the morning of August, 8, nobody saw Kozaevs family. They didn’t even managed to leave the house. The artillery shell exploded right in a court yard of the house from side of the homestead land. There is a huge funnel in a concrete land. On the one part Maria and Albert laid, it seemed that mother tried to shield the son with her body and save him. Albert`s wife Bella was at the threshold near the entrance door. Explosion occurred when she was at the door. From the way of body placement she, probably, opened the door and at that moment the shell landed. According to the traces of blood, after the explosion she was still alive and tried to get out of the house… Two more shells destroyed the stairway to the second floor and damaged the kitchen on the ground floor.

17.04.2009 16:54 | Elizabeth Petrachenko: “When I saw our destroyed city, I wanted to cry”

I am only 12 years old, but I have already gone through two wars: in 2004 and 2008. From that war, in 2004, I have remembered me and my mother were coming home and they began to shoot at us from the direction of the village Tamarashen. We were running along the street and my mother was in front of me, in case things went wrong the bullet hit my mum instead of me.

On August, 1, 2008 the shelling started again. All of us were at home on the ground floor. My little sisters were sitting on the sofa, they were very frightened and even started to tremble with fear and cry. They nestled to the grandfather and asked him why they were shooting again. We spent there much time, all other days and nights they were shooting too. I remember, about three o’clock mum woke me up and told to go downwards, because there was a shelling again. All of us went down because it was a safe place. We fall asleep there.

On August, 6 we went to the market and bought the products as a reserve. Mum said that it was necessary to buy food in case of war, because the shops would be closed.