Today Georgia celebrates the 37th birthday of national hero Giorgi Antsukhelidze, who heroically sacrificed his life for his country in the Russian-Georgian war of 2008.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has stated that Antsukhelidze is an ‘example of personal dignity and devotion.’
He has taken an eternal place in Georgian history,” Garibashvili said.
Antsukhelidze was born in 1984 in the village of Alvani in the highland Akhmeta in northeast Georgia.
He was conscripted into the Georgian Armed Forces in 2001. He then served in various units of the Georgian infantry headquartered at Senaki and then at Vaziani.
Junior Sergeant Antsukhelidze took his service as an assistant gunner in the 41st Battalion of the 4th Infantry Brigade during the Russia–Georgia war of August 2008.
Antsukhelidze was killed when he was 24. He left behind wife and two children. Photo: Georgian Defence Ministry.
He was captured by the enemy on August 9, during the battle of Tskhinvali. He was beaten to death at the brothers' cemetery near Tskhinvali fifth school. Footage of his torture, recorded on an enemy soldier’s phone, was circulated on the Internet in January 2009.
Antsukhelidze was considered missing until November 2008, when his identification was determined by genetic examination of the bodies of military servicemen transferred to the Georgian side.
He was buried at the fraternal cemetery of Georgian soldiers at Mukhatgverdi near Tbilisi.
The Russia-Georgia war lasted five days. As a result of the conflict, 228 Georgian civilians, 170 soldiers and 14 police officers lost their lives.