News

Sergey Bokovoy, a member of the first group of the leading Russian ecologists and a member of the Supreme Ecological Board of Russian State Duma, believes that the territory of South Ossetia is an ecological catastrophe zone.

The North Ossetia gets ready to hold Memory Days on the victims of the act of terror committed on September 1-3, 2004, in Beslan.

On August 31, at midday, an all-Russian action under the motto "Future of Russia is in mothers' hands" is to start in the Theatre Square of Tskhinvali with participation of public organizations of North Ossetia and the "Beslan Mothers" Association of Victims of Terror Acts.

As a result of the war, an essential part of households in Tskhinvali have suffered. According to the data presented by Mayor of Tskhinvali Robert Guliev, we can state that 80 percent of the city's housing fund was damaged.

At least 400 persons are still regarded missing in South Ossetia, and there is no information about them. In his conversation with journalists, David Sanakoev, Ombudsman in South Ossetia, said that the Georgian party denies that there are women and children among their detainees.

A soldier was killed and 11 more persons were wounded in an explosion in Vedeno district centre in Chechnya. The victims were soldiers, a militiaman and a woman, occasional passer-by.

South Ossetia and Abkhazia plan to sign agreements on mutual recognition and military cooperation, said Robert Kokoev, South Ossetia's ambassador to Abkhazia. Sergey Shamba, Abkhazian Minister of Foreign Affairs, has stated today that Abkhazia can join the Allied State of Russia and Belarus and by virtue of this get access to international organizations.

On August 27, a Georgian drone (pilotless aircraft) was shot down in its flight over the territory of South Ossetia by the forces of local MIA, Mikhail Mindzaev, head of the Republic's MIA, stated yesterday, on August 28, in a press conference in Tskhinvali.

Sergey Sokolov, deputy editor-in-chief of the "Novaya Gazeta", has reported that the case on the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, observer of the paper, may be transferred to the court in the first decade of September.

Regional correspondents of the Azeri Service of Radio Liberty Malakhat Nasibova and Ilgar Nasibov, and Elman Abbasov, regional representative of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), addressed by mail to the prosecutor's office of the Babek District of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR).

Tomorrow, on August 30, Georgian diplomats will be recalled from Russia, reports Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Grigol Vashadze, since Georgia breaks its diplomatic relations with Russia.

In Makhachkala, the militia would not let to the square participants of the rally with demand of resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Dagestan. About 300 participants of the protest action have rallied in the mini-park near the central square of Makhachkala and are warning about possible provocations from the militia.

EU leaders are not going to introduce any sanctions against Russia at the forthcoming summit on the situation in Georgia, one of high-ranking diplomatic sources in France said today.

In Argun, the third city of Chechnya, armed persons in camouflage kidnapped a resident of the Kurchaloy District.

The exchange of prisoners goes with difficulties, as David Sanakoev, Ombudsman in South Ossetia who is in charge of the process told journalists yesterday, on August 28. In total, within the time of negotiations, 152 persons were handed over to the Georgian party.

Senator Barack Obama, the democratic candidate for US presidency, has stated that in case of his victory at presidential elections he will use "tough and direct diplomacy" to constrain "Russia's aggression."

The group of the Investigatory Committee at the Prosecutor's Office (ICPO) of Russia has gathered almost five thousand material evidences of Georgia's attacks on South Ossetia, head of the ICPO Alexander Bastrykin told journalists today.

China has stated that "it is concerned" with the force opposition of Russia and Georgia. In this opinion, the country supports representatives of international European and North-Atlantic structures.

The countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) find it a must for Russia to observe the principles of territorial integrity of Georgia. However, these countries have approved as a whole Russia's peacekeeping efforts in South Ossetia, but noted that they are concerned with the latest events in the region.

Yesterday, on August 27, the court in Krasnodar Territory sentenced journalist Sergey Rozhkov under part 1, Article 318, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, to 3.5 years of freedom restriction at a colony-settlement for "use of violence against a power representative."