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Prison Planet
August 20, 2008
[1] Russia Today
Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008
The total number of causalities of the Georgian – South Ossetian conflict has been revealed. According to local authorities the conflict has taken the lives of 1492 Ossetians. More than 5,000 people from South Ossetia are still in refugee camps in the south of Russia.
Approximately 30,000 people fled from Georgia’s offensive on August 8. Many have been staying with relatives or have been taken in by ordinary charitable people. RT met a young family of refugees who are now trying to piece their shattered lives together. Refugees rely on the kindness of strangers
Whoever’s won this war, the Ossetian people have lost the most. Two of them, Ruslan and Khatuna Khelekhsaeva, say everything they owned in Tskhinvali now lies in ruins. They are very clear as to who they blame for having destroyed their lives.
“We blame Georgia and America for the war. It’s the second time they’ve bombed us. We can’t bear it anymore. No one can guarantee that Georgia won’t bomb us again,” Ruslan said.
We asked Ruslan whether South Ossetia should indeed break away from Georgia.
“Independence would be good in theory but we cannot defend ourselves against Georgia. So we need to be part of Russia. If Russia didn’t support us, then there would probably be no ‘us’ left on this earth,” he added.
Khatuna’s eyes cannot hide her pain. She recounts her experience:
