Georgian activists mark anniversary of "Five-Day War" with protest actions

On the eve of the 12th anniversary of the start of the "Five Day War", on the Georgian-South-Ossetian border, three protest actions were held; the participants thereof spoke out for the territorial integrity of Georgia.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 8, 2008, Russia intervened in the Georgian-South-Ossetian armed conflict. After the end of hostilities, the Russian President signed decrees recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

On August 7, residents of the Onsk municipality, which is partially controlled by South Ossetia, held a protest action on the border against the occupation of Georgia by the Russian Federation.

"Georgia must be territorially integral; invaders must leave Georgia," Koba Khabazi, a member of the political council of the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party, has stated during the action.

Another protest action was held in the village of Ergneti, which is located on the Georgian-South-Ossetian border. The protesters recalled the events of August 2008; then, they marched with posters and flags of Georgia and the European Union to the demarcation line.

Activists had also planned to hold a rally in the morning of August 7 in the Kvemo-Kartli Region, near the village of Khurvaleti, which is located near the South-Ossetian border, but failed to get a police's sanction for this. Instead of a demarcation line, some place was allocated to them on the road leading to the village. Several dozen people came to a rally, holding posters with photos of those killed in the August 2008 war incident. "The occupation doesn't stop – the occupants are taking away our territories every day," David Katsarava, one of the leaders of the "Strength in Unity" Movement, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his story, the advance of the boundary barriers deep into Georgia happens because of the absence of reaction from the country's authorities.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 8, 2020 at 10:19 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.