Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is visiting South Ossetia on the anniversary of the start of the war in 2008. According to South Ossetian tradition, Medvedev was greeted with the equivalent of the Russian welcome offering of bread and salt - Ossetian pies and a cup of beer.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is visiting South Ossetia on the anniversary of the start of the war in 2008. According to South Ossetian tradition, Medvedev was greeted with the equivalent of the Russian welcome offering of bread and salt - Ossetian pies and a cup of beer.
The Russian guest was offered the pies and beer by young women wearing national costumes.
Residents of Tskhinvali greeted the prime minister with applause and flowers.
When Medvedev's convoy arrived and he stepped out of the car, the residents of Tskhinvali greeted him with unrestrained enthusiasm.
Many could not contain their emotion.
Despite the fact that this visit had not been announced beforehand, several hundred people turned up at the Presidential Palace in Tskhinvali to greet the Russian prime minister.
South Ossetian President Leonid Tibilov met the Russian prime minister at the entrance to the building. He greeted Dmitry Medvedev warmly and invited him inside. Leonid Tibilov said that August 8 held a special significance for the country. He thanked the Russian prime minister for choosing this particular day for his visit. Dmitry Medvedev and the South Ossetian president laid flowers at a memorial to those killed during the first Georgian-Ossetian war of 1989-1992.
Medvedev also greeted the militia heroes who four years ago risked their own lives to hold back the advancing Georgian forces. Photo: Dmitry Medvedev talking with residents of Tskhinvali before visting one of the city's hospitals.
Georgia launched an attack on South Ossetia using Grad rocket launchers in the early hours of August 8, 2008. Georgian forces invaded the republic and destroyed part of the capital Tskhinvali. In defense of the people of South Ossetia, many of whom had taken up Russian citizenship, Russia sent troops to the republic and after five days of fighting forced the Georgian forces out of the region. The South Ossetian authorities said that over 1,500 people died as a result of the aggression. During the conflict, 67 Russian soldiers lost their lives, including peacekeepers. Photo: Dmitry Medvedev during a visit to South Ossetia.
At the end of August 2008, Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which after the fall of the Soviet Union also refused to recognize the legal jurisdiction of Georgia. Photo: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov during a visit to South Ossetia.
