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North Ossetia Begins Burying Its Dead
The first volunteers killed in battles with Georgian forces were buried in North Ossetia on Monday. There are no exact details on the number of volunteers killed in the hostilities yet, nor even of the total number of volunteers who took part in the hostilities. It is known that about 1500 volunteers from Dagestan joined in the fighting in South Ossetia, and a slightly smaller number came from Chechnya and Kabardino-Balkaria. The number of volunteers from North Ossetia is not known even approximately.
Kommersant has learned that one resident of Alagir, North Ossetia, and five from Vladivostok, the republic’s capital, were buried yesterday. That is likely to be only the beginning of the funerals. Information received from Tskhinvali indicated that more than 100 volunteers were killed in the first day of fighting. Unofficial information is that Chechen volunteers suffered the heaviest losses, after they made to the very center of Tskhinvali during its defense. That information cannot be corroborated at this time.
Vitaly Aguzarov, a 28-year-old resident of Alagir, left for South Ossetia by car as soon as he heard about the bombardment of Tskhinvali. He crossed the border at night and his car was hit by a Grad missile on the outskirts of Dzhava, killing him on the spot. His body could be returned to Alagir only two days later, when the shelling had slacken somewhat. His hour-long funeral was held in the usual Ossetian manner. There were no official speeches, military salutes, or anything else to indicate that he had died in a war. After his coffin was carried out of his parents’ home, local women began to shout for vengeance. “May their mothers know what it’s like to bury a child,” they repeated. One of the pallbearers declared that he was leaving for Tskhinvali that same day.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 12, 2008
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