On the occasion of the 14th anniversary of Georgia's military aggression against South Ossetia, the Embassy of the Republic of South Ossetia in the Russian Federation sent a press release to all diplomatic missions accredited in the Russian Federation, as well as to the Georgian Interests Section at the Embassy of Switzerland.
"These days, the Republic of South Ossetia, the entire Ossetian people, united by historical memory and duty to past and future generations, once again remembers and pays tribute to the memory of the innocent victims of the August 2008 Georgian aggression.
14 years ago, on the night of August 7-8, 2008, Georgia, having violated all international obligations and agreements, starting with a massive artillery shelling of the South Ossetian sleeping capital and districts of the Republic, the location of Russian and South Ossetian peacekeeping forces, social facilities, invaded territory of South Ossetia," the document says.
The press release notes that the armed aggression was undertaken precisely at the time when the opening ceremony of the 29th Summer Olympic Games was taking place in Beijing. It became another act of permanent genocide against the long-suffering Ossetian people in the 20th-21st centuries.
“Massed barbaric artillery shelling and Georgian air strikes resulted in the death of hundreds of civilians, including women, the elderly and children, thousands were injured and died due to lack of access to medical care. Thanks to the courage of the defenders and Russian peacekeepers, South Ossetia did not surrender and did not turn into an "open field", contrary to the name of this inhuman action of the Georgian army, prepared according to the NATO standards.
The grossest violation of the norms of international law, under the protection of which the peacekeeping forces were in the zone of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, was the barbaric attack on their locations, which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of peacekeepers," the Embassy has reminded.
Unfortunately, the text says, the world community was silently watching the destruction of the Ossetian people and the execution of peacekeepers, and only Russia's decisive actions prevented the bloody plan of the Saakashvili regime and its policy of state terrorism. In August 2008, the Russian Federation once again confirmed the status of a great power, a state-guarantor and peacemaker, protecting the rights of its citizens and compatriots.
"And today, once again calling for justice, legal assessment of these acts and punishment of the criminals sheltered by the Georgian authorities, we are mourning the innocent victims of the Georgian aggression, whose memory will forever remain in our hearts," the diplomatic mission has noted.
