News

Georgia leaves the CIS, denounces the agreement on peacekeeping operation in Abkhazia and announces Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be occupied territories.

The refugees from South Ossetia, with whom the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent managed to talk today, assert that they were shelled by foreigners recruited by Georgia as mercenaries.

Today, 5 trucks with humanitarian aid went from Kabardino-Balkaria to North Ossetia 5, said Anuar Chechenov, head of the Republic's headquarters for rendering medical and social help to the victims of the armed conflict in South Ossetia and vice-premier of Kabardino-Balkaria.

Inhabitants of one of the hostels for those in need of improving their housing conditions, which were earlier named "temporary accommodation centres (TACs) of forced migrants", located in Gudermes (Chechnya), complain that on August 5 the building, where over 400 persons lived, mostly women and children, was cut off from gas and electricity supplies.

In Kalmykia, Mayor of the capital, Elista, Radiy Burulov is again placed behind bars, as ruled by the Elista City Court.

On August 11, 170 refugees from South Ossetia were brought to Nalchik from the temporary tent camp deployed in North Ossetia by four buses; they were accommodated in boarding houses. Now, over 300 refugees, children and adults, are sheltered by Kabardino-Balkaria.

Members of the Ukrainian Voluntary Corps of the Eurasian Humanitarian Mission have left for South Ossetia, as Leonid Slavin, coordinator of the Voluntary Corps, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on August 11.

On August 9, at bombardment of the city of Gori, Georgia, by Russian aircrafts over 400 persons were wounded, more than 20 were lost, as reported by the administration of the Georgian city.

Most of those wounded in South Ossetia arrive to the Central Clinical Hospital (CCH) of North Ossetia. Some of the CCH doctors have left to render help in the conflict zone and to the border, as Kazbek Gusov, CCH's Chief Physician, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On August 8, Georgian militaries drove thirty women and children into an Orthodox church, and then blew it up. Irina Gagloeva, a spokesperson of the government of South Ossetia, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about it.

It has become known today that, like in 2006, the postal and marine communication between Russia and Georgia has been suspended. The air communication was stopped on August 9.

200 servicemen of the special purpose battalion of the Interior Troops of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs named "Yug" (South) and deployed in Chechnya have expressed their readiness to volunteer to the war in South Ossetia, as one of battalion officers asserts.

On August 10, all the districts of Volgograd opened points for gathering humanitarian help intended for peaceful residents of South Ossetia. Already in the next few days, Volgograd plans to send medicines for the victims in the South-Ossetian conflict zone.

So far, neither of the parties of the conflict that has burst out in South Ossetia has failed to present complete data on their casualties in the tragic events, however, the count of warfare victims from the first days of fights in the region is in thousands.

The infantry of Georgia has entered the capital of South Ossetia, and several Georgian tanks have broken through the defence line and also entered Tskhinvali. South Ossetian fighters show resistance to the invasion. The city is shelled.

Tonight, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has arrived to Vladikavkaz and met leaders of North Ossetia to discuss the matters of rendering assistance to South Ossetia in the context of the events in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone. Mr Putin has ordered to allot 10 billion roubles for restoration of dwelling houses in South Ossetia.

President of Abkhazia Sergey Bagapsh has made a decision to start driving Georgian armed forces out of the upper section of the Kodori Gorge. Christian Bzhaniya, President's official spokesman for media, has announced this at a briefing.

Today, the Ministry for Matters of Youth, Physical Culture and Sports of North Ossetia has started to collect things for refugees from South Ossetia. People are mostly bringing children's clothes.

Today, refugees from South Ossetia have started to arrive to Tbilisi. The capital's Mayoralty asserts that they can accommodate all of them.

Because of huge destructions, Tskhinvali now experiences sharp shortage of potable water and absence of gas and electricity. Periodic bombardments of Tskhinvali prevent to organize evacuation of wounded persons, women and children, and to count total victims of combat clashes in the city.