A mourning rally dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Ered tragedy was held in South Ossetia.
The memorial event began with a ceremony of laying flowers at the grave of the victims of the tragedy.
The leadership of the Republic, headed by Acting President Konstantin Dzhussoev, the Russian Ambassador to South Ossetia Marat Kulakhmetov, representatives of ministries, departments, relatives of the murdered and the public came to honor the memory of 12 civilians brutally killed by the Georgian armed forces.
The first Vce-Speaker of the Parliament of South Ossetia Zita Besaeva has noted that the Ered tragedy is one of the most terrible and horrible events in the history of the Ossetian people.
"It is important that we do not forget about these people. This is a part of our history that still echoes with pain in our hearts. It is impossible to remain indifferent when you come here, as well as to the place of the Zar tragedy. This is probably the most terrible thing that could have happened to our people, but despite everything, we survived and today we have the opportunity to come here to honor the memory of these people," Besaeva said.
Soslan Tedety, a resident of South Ossetia, whose sister's husband Iosif Doguzov was among the killed, has shared his memories of how they were searching for the 12 brutally murdered Ossetians.
"We were searching for them for two years and seven months. The Georgian shepherd pointed out the burial place, complaining that the bandits did not allow them to live in peace either. The excavation of the remains of the killed continued for three days. My sister's husband was recognized by his brother by his clothes. Another Georgian tractor driver told how the Georgian militants came to his home and asked him to help bury the dead, promising to give him a machine gun in return. But, according to him, he agreed only because he was afraid for his family. He said that while burying them, he noticed under the light of the tractor headlights how the earth was shaking. This indicated that among the hostages there were those buried alive,” Tedety said.
Tedety added that he would not wish even the enemy to experience the horror that they and the entire people of South Ossetia experienced.
South Ossetia is marking the 34th anniversary of the Ered tragedy, which left an indelible mark on the history of the Republic, becoming the open wound in the hearts of the relatives of the victims and the entire Ossetian people.
On March 18, 1991, the Georgian nationalists stopped a Ural car with 25 Ossetians heading from the village of Dmenis to Tskhinval.
The women and children were beaten, but later released. And 12 men of Ossetian nationality were brutally murdered, burned alive and buried.
To hide the crime scene, the grave was rammed down with a bulldozer and a road was built through it. For a long time, the men were listed missing. They were found only two years and seven months later.
