Georgia’s Prime Minister pays tribute to fallen heroes of 2008 Russian-Georgian war
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The Prime Minister of Georgia is paying tribute to the fallen heroes of the 2008 Russian-Georgian war; the soldiers and civilians who died during the five-day conflict.
This year is the seventh anniversary of the Russian-Georgian war.
To commemorate those who died in the 2008 war, PM Irakli Garibashvili and other members of the Georgian Government visited Mukhatgverdi Brothers’ Cemetery today and paid their respects.
Garibashvili stressed the 2008 war had left behind an open wound that was "impossible to heal”.
"We suffered a heavy loss in the war; we lost our soldiers, police officers and patriots who revealed great examples of devoutness and heroism. We have thousands of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) the occupied regions of Abkhazia and [Tskhinvali] (South Ossetia) are recognised as independent republics by Russia. We have no control over more than 100 villages,” he said while addressing those at the Cemetery.
He also said those who had died in the war showed great heroism and their efforts were selfless and "invaluable”.
"I bow before the souls of our heroes. I once again give condolences to their families and want to tell them that the Government stands by them,” said Garibashvili.
PM gave condolences to the families, which lost their loved ones at the Georgian-Russian War in 2008. Photo by PM’s webpage.
Today, seven years on from the short but deadly war, much still needed to be done to fully restore Georgia-Russia relations. He stressed Georgia’s creeping occupation by Russia was still ongoing and the current Georgian Government was trying to stop this by taking reasonable steps.
"There is no alternative to peace. We want to regain our lost territories and live in peace with our Abkhazian and Ossetian brothers. All this should take place based on peaceful negotiations,” he said.
"We should continue our sensible policy towards Russia and at the same time we should show actions of principle, as Abkhazia and [Tskhinvali] are integral parts of Georgia and we will never tolerate the idea of losing them,” the PM said.
This time in 2008, after five days of conflict between Russia and Georgia, 228 Georgian civilians, 170 soldiers and 14 police officers had lost their lives.
During the war Russia carried out an air attack on military units and air bases in Georgian cities. The central town of Gori was bombed twice, including its military base. Russian jets bombed Vaziani military base in Tbilisi, an airplane factory, Poti Port in the west, military bases in Senaki and Marneuli.
The war also displaced 192,000 people in Georgia. Some were able to return to their homes after the war but many were not. As of May 2014, more than 20,200 people remain displaced.
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Poignant photos depicting the Russian-Georgian war are on display in Tbilisi as the country marks the seventh anniversary of the short but violent war.