Russian representative to UN Vitaly Churkin.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Russia Calls Emergency Meeting of the UN Security Council for Friday Evening
The UN Security Council will hold a meeting on South Ossetia on Friday after Russia’s call for an emergency gathering. Press secretary of the Russian diplomatic mission at the United Nations Maria Zakharova informed RBC information agency of the meeting, which will begin at 11:00 p.m. local time (7:00 a.m. Saturday, Moscow time).
According to Zakharova, Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has sent a letter to the chairman of the Security Council stating that it was necessary to hold an emergency session to discuss the situation in South Ossetia. The ambassador said in the letter that the meeting had to be called “in connection with the aggressive actions of Georgia in relation to South Ossetia, an internationally acknowledged party to a conflict.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry has reacted earlier to the events in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone. A Foreign Ministry published statement reads, in part, that the actions of Georgia in South Ossetia are evidence that Tbilisi can no longer be credited as trustworthy. Russian Foreign Ministry special representative Yury Popov stated that the international community should reconsider Georgia’s entry into NATO.
Late yesterday evening, Georgia officially informed the leadership of the Russian peacekeepers of the beginning of military actions in relation to South Ossetia. At 11:45 p.m. Moscow time, Georgian armed forces began to storm Tskhinvali, capital of the unrecognized republic, from all sides. Weapons fire is coming from Georgia from Grad multiple-launch rocket systems, as well as guns and grenade launchers. South Ossetian forces engaged the Georgian units in battle on the approaches to Tskhinvali, causing the Georgian side perceptible losses, the South Ossetian State Committee on Information and the Press noted.
South Ossetian Interior Minister Mikhail Mindzaev told the RBC agency that there were many injuries during the shelling of Tskhinvali, but he was unable to name an exact number. The South Ossetian State Committee on Information and the Press reports several deaths. It is also reported that a large fore has broken out in the headquarters of the South Ossetian government as a result of the shelling. Dozens of other homes and buildings are burning in the city as well, including the Children’s World store. The republic’s hospital is also under fire in Tskhinvali. All medical personnel are in a special shelter. Because of the massive shelling, it is not possible so far to bring the injured to the hospital. Most of the injured are suffering from wounds from missile fragments.
About 30,000 civilians live in Tskhinvali at present. Ninety percent of them have Russian citizenship.
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