Abkhazia and South Ossetia mark 10 years of Russia's recognition of their independence

Delegations from Russia, Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, Syria, Nauru and self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics have attended the festivities on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Russia's recognition of independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on August 26, 2008, after its armed conflict with Georgia.

On August 26, Sukhumi hosted a fair of agricultural products from all Abkhazian districts; while the Central Exhibition Hall of the Union of Artists of Abkhazia opened a photo exhibition "Holiday of Recognition", where more than a hundred photographs illustrating the historical events that happened ten years ago are presented.

The celebration ended with an evening concert on the Mahajirs Embankment and fireworks, the "Abkhazia-Inform" News Agency reported on August 26.

South Ossetia marked the 10th anniversary of Russia's recognition of its independence with a historical and theatrical performance at the stadium in Tskhinvali, which was watched by more than 10,000 spectators. "Such a large-scale event is being held in the republic for the first time," said David Gazzati, an assistant to the President of South Ossetia.

The stadium watched standing the musical-poetic reconstruction of the events of August 2008. "I was in tears during the part showing the 2008 war; I looked around and saw that the whole stadium was crying .It is impossible, even 10 years later, to recollect it calmly. Thanks to Russia that it saved us, that it recognized our independence; we'll always remember it," a newspaper quotes Rita, a resident of Tskhinvali, as saying.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 28, 2018 at 11:27 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.