Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] Sixteen years after the Five-Day War, the pain of loss has not subsided, relatives of the deceased journalists Alexander Klimchuk and Gigi Chikhladze said. Social media users have published an image of a bell and the motto: "I always remember" in memory of the events of 2008.
As the "Caucasian Knot" wrote, former President Saakashvili is responsible for the start of the Georgian-Russian war of 2008, the Georgian Prime Minister said and announced a "public trial" in the case of the "United National Movement" after the parliamentary elections. Russia must withdraw its troops from Georgian territory and stop violating the rights of people living there, the Georgian Foreign Ministry and Ombudsman indicated on the 16th anniversary of the Five-Day War. Mourning events were held in South Ossetia on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the start of the Five-Day War.
The Russian military operation "to force peace", which went down in history as the "Five-Day War", was carried out from August 8 to 12, 2008, on the territory of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. After the Five-Day War, Russia and some other countries recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia has since considered these territories occupied by Russia and has terminated diplomatic relations with Russia, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report on the Five-Day War of 2008.
"I always remember" - this motto, together with the image of a bell, filled Georgian social networks. Yesterday and today, Georgia remembers the August war of 2008, a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" reported.
Among those killed in the Five-Day War were photographer Sasha Klimchuk and journalist Giga Chikhladze. On August 8, 2008, they left from the United States to cover the fighting in Tskhinvali. The journalists were fired upon by an Ossetian armed group. Giga and Sasha died on the spot. The information about their deaths was not confirmed for a long time, and only on August 17 did the Russian side deliver the bodies of the dead to Gori. 30-year-old Giga Chikhladze worked for Russian Newsweek, Radio France and wrote articles for a number of foreign publications, 27-year-old Sasha Klimchuk was a photojournalist for ITAR-TASS and one of the founders of the Caucasus Images photo agency. Giga is survived by his wife and two small children, and Alexander has elderly parents.
16 years later, the feeling is the same, and it still hurts as much as it did then. As time goes by, I remember those August days more and more.
Gigi Chikhladze's widow, journalist Nata Mumladze, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that their children constantly remember their father. "The girl is already 20, and the son is 19. They are both students and study in the United States," she said.
Aleksandr Klimchuk's mother, Yulia Klimchuk, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that she was left alone. She was not offered a survivor's pension. "My mother died the day she found out that Sasha had died. My husband also died very soon. I live alone now and I never forget about Sasha for a minute. Sixteen years later, the feelings are the same, and it still hurts as much as it did then. Over time, I remember those August days more and more," she said.
In 2022, the Tbilisi Sakrebulo (City Council) decided to name streets in honor of Klimchuk and Chikhladze.
Teona Pankvelashvili, who lives in Gori, recalled how events unfolded in the region in August 2008. "Since August 5, the sounds of military action have been heard in Gori. On August 7, I clearly saw the fighting because the sky was red from the bombs. On August 8, at 10:20 in the morning, a bomb fell in Gori. At that time, my mother and I were on the street in front of the theater, people were confused, crying, chaos reigned. The city was empty. They called us at night and asked us to leave the city. My father took me and my mother to the Ateni Valley, to the village of Bnavisi. On August 9, at 10:20, a bomber flew over us and bombed the mountains and forests of the Ateni Valley. My friend and I were standing on the balcony in the village of Bnavisi. My friend called Gori. His colleague, ambulance doctor Tamuna, told him that bombs were exploding, and at that time we heard screams and the sound of bombing on the phone. Tamuna was wounded. We went to Tbilisi. My friend's father stayed in Gori and until the end helped the remaining population with humanitarian aid," she said.
On August 12, it was reported that the Russian army was approaching Tbilisi, Teona recalls. "I cried and asked my mother if April 9 had happened in vain. Fortunately, with the help of the governor, President Saakashvili, America and the European Union, Russia retreated, although it occupied additional territories... Today, the war continues again in the form of a creeping occupation," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
According to a report by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, published on the "Caucasian Knot", Russian cluster munition strikes were carried out on targets in the Gori and Kareli districts, as a result of which at least 12 civilians were killed and at least 46 were wounded at the moment of the strikes. All these strikes can be classified as indiscriminate, the document emphasizes. The "Caucasian Knot" published a photo report " Five-day war: pain and tragedy of ordinary families ".
Director of the NGO "Center for Social Solidarity" Tamta Mikeladze believes that the war is not over. "It is one thing when the authorities talk about war and peace, and another when you hear real stories of people who have suffered from war and conflict. We have everything except peace! We live in a state of constant war!" she wrote today on her Facebook page*.
The fighting brought suffering to many residents of both South Ossetia and Georgia, journalists and human rights activists who witnessed those events wrote earlier. Women and children "shuddered in basements for two days while the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, was pounded with Grad rockets, while artillery pounded the city," said Tatyana Lokshina, Human Rights Watch's program director for Russia.
More from kavkaz-uzel.eu
Residents of South Ossetia honored the memory of the victims of the "Five-Day War"
In a number of settlements in South Ossetia, mourning events were held to mark the 16th anniversary of the start of the Five-Day War.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", in South Ossetia, mourning events are held annually on August 8 in memory of the victims of the "Five-Day War" of 2008. In 2023, a number of mourning events and flower-laying ceremonies were held in Tskhinvali.
On the 16th anniversary of the start of the "Five-Day War" in South Ossetia, a number of mourning events took place. Flowers were laid in Tskhinvali, including at the destroyed barracks of the Russian peacekeeping battalion. The event was attended by the President of the Republic Alan Gagloev . Flowers were also laid at the monuments to the Heroes of Ossetia Oleg Galavanov, Denis Vetchinov, at the "Symbol of Sorrow" monument in the "Museum of Burnt Souls" in the village of Tbet near Tskhinvali, the IA "Res" reported today on its Telegram channel.
Members of the "Mothers of Beslan" organization also took part in the mourning events. They laid flowers at the site of the death of six OMON officers who died during the "Five-Day War." Memorial events were also held at the foreign missions of the South Ossetian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the agency noted in another publication.
Let us recall that from August 8 to 12, 2008, a Russian military operation "to force peace" was carried out on the territory of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia; it went down in history as the "Five-Day War". After the "Five-Day War", Russia and some other countries recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Since then, Georgia considers Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be territories occupied by Russia and has terminated diplomatic relations with Russia, as stated in the "Caucasian Knot" report on the "Five-Day War" of 2008.
The "Caucasian Knot" also wrote that on January 21, 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recognized that the Russian authorities were involved in human rights violations in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but were not responsible for the hostilities in August 2008.
The ECHR decision will not affect the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, noted South Ossetian political scientists previously interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".
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