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North Pole Resident
08-14-2008, 03:20 PM
August 13, 2008
Wednesday

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Dmitry Medvedev has declared August 13 a day of mourning for the humanitarian disaster in South Ossetia.


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The President signed a decree ‘On Declaring a Day of Mourning for the Humanitarian Disaster in South Ossetia’.

The document notes that Georgian forces, in violation of the peace agreements in place in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone and the UN Charter, and with the sanction of the Georgian leadership, illegally invaded and attempted to seize South Ossetian territory on August 8, 2008, using aviation, heavy artillery and guns and killing the local population. This act constitutes genocide against the South Ossetian people. The city of Tskhinvali and other towns have been practically destroyed, creating a humanitarian disaster in South Ossetia.

Furthermore, an armed attack was launched against a Russian Armed Forces contingent stationed in the region in accordance with international agreements for normalising the situation in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone, which constitutes an act of aggression under the terms of the UN General Assembly’s resolution of December 14, 1974.

As a result of these actions numerous civilians in South Ossetia have been killed and members of the Russian Armed Forces peacekeeping contingent in the region have also lost their lives.

The President expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and declared August 13, 2008 a day of mourning in the Russian Federation.


Source: http://kremlin.ru/eng/sdocs/themes.shtml#205242

North Pole Resident
08-14-2008, 03:21 PM
Russia mourns victims of Ossetian bloodshed

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VIDEO -- http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/28945/video

Russia is holding a day of mourning for those killed during the five days of fighting in South Ossetia. People from the capital Tskhinvali, which became a battlefield after attack by Georgia, are recovering from a nightmare. It’s hard to find a citizen who hasn't lost a relative in the conflict. Meanwhile, Russian peacekeepers are continuing to pull people out from the rubble of destroyed buildings.

Funerals continue to take place in the breakaway republic for those killed during the war with Georgia.

Hundreds of people were hiding underground while the city was under attack, which almost completely destroyed the South Ossetian capital. Now the city is quiet. Most of its residents have fled or died.

The Chief Priest of the Province, Father Georgy, says 60% of his parishioners were killed.

“They particularly targeted churches because they knew that people tried to hide there,” he said.

It will take at least two years to rebuild Tskhinvali, according to the Russian Emergencies Ministry. Moscow is allocating $US 400 million to restore the region and $US 20 million for an emergency search operation.

READ MORE -- http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/28945