Stories by Eyewitnesses (Letters received on email)

It should be my wedding day today . . . I'm looking at my wedding dress and don't know if I will ever see my fiancé. It's been the second day that he's not answering my calls. Yesterday, on BBC, I saw the Georgian hostages, walled and waiting to be shot by Russians. I looked at the back of the neck of one of the soldiers and thought that it looked exactly like my fiancé's. . . I know it's silly. . . Everyone's necks look the same from the back. I know I should not think negative . . . and brace myself . . . I've never been religious, but now, I can not do anything but praying to God. I try not to cry. . . What is happening in my country is not expectable . . . I'd like to ask the world not to leave us in front of this bloody dragon – Russia. Georgia is not Russia's last prey. Tomorrow its' going to be Ukraine, then the rest of the Europe. Please defend us, defend yourselves!
Tamta Kilasonia
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The Russian shell ruined down the Public School of Kurta. Arkad Mekhaturashvili, employee of the school, who was blocked inside, was asking to be taken out. In response to his help plea Russian invader killed him.
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Kato Papelashvili was killed in the yard of her house and she is still unburied.
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The old married couple residing in the village of Achabeti is trying to hide away from Russian invaders. They contact us and tell about Russian aggressors trespassing the houses owned by Georgians, robbing and taking any goods and finally setting the houses to fire.
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Happened incredible thing: Russian barbarians demolished our gorge. They bombed houses; houses with people inside were in flames. We left our homes and escaped, the road was horrifying: bombs were exploding in front of us damaging cars and people. I saw a car packed with people blew up, human intestines were flying in the air. Some women from my village chose other way to leave the gorge, through river and forests. Cars were carrying bodies of young boys. The gorge is full of dead bodies who were not buried and have been left for crows to eat. I saw a woman who bowled up in front of her house, she was split in many many parts. Wounded asked for help, but there was nobody able to help them. I saw how Russians put two men in sacks and shoot them… Elders stayed in gorge. My parents stayed there. My dad has diabetes and can’t walk. I know their life is in danger, they know it too and they are waiting for death.
Tina Khutsishvili
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It is the tenth day that I am back from Oxford, Saint John College. I studied antique writings in order to understand the concept of hero in antiquity. I came back to Tbilisi, were my husband and two little children were waiting for me. My husband is actively involved in school reform and works to inculcate tolerance in pupils. One of my sisters travels across the Caucasus holding film festival "Nationality Human" and organizes discussions on human rights issues. My second sister makes films on human rights. The war had started absolutely unexpectedly couple of days ago. My husband was recruited together with his pupils as reservist. My sister was blocked in western Georgia, where she had been looking for the place to make a film, the other sister tried to contact her Ossetian friends to get news. All day long I heard Russian aircrafts shelling city of Gori, which is some 50 kilometers far from the conflict zone. My husband was in Gori. I saw burning houses, killed and wounded people on TV. The mobile connection was paralyzed and I had no idea of what had happened to my husband. Later he and his friends came back alive. Unfortunately, I don't need antique texts any more in order to understand what heroism means, as each of us are expected to be heroes right now. Afterwards, if I stay alive, I will write on heroism nowadays.
Ketevan Gurchiani
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Maybe what I want to tell you is not so shocking, but I was crossing Gori on Sunday (place which Russia troops were bombing intensively). I was travelling with my son who is only 10 years old. We were terrified - the city seems to be dead. There were many destroyed buildings, only the gray ruins and terrified silence - no children voices, nor laugh… and what was scaring was the sky, where each moment could be visible Russian Bombardiers. And my son was asking me questions, the meaning of the words were not clear for me when I was 10. He was speaking about troop's location, about international Human Low, and the Moratorium… What a pity to take away the childhood from our children!
Manana Ratiani
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I witnessed how Russian Jet plane was hunting the civilians.

On 9th of August, at about 14:00 I was in my yard, in village Tirdznisi, Gori region, together with my 4 neighbors; among them one was 50 years old women.

Jet plane, flying at a low altitude, reduces its height after seeing us and opened fire. There are no military objects or military technique or soldiers in the several kilometers' radius. We were lucky to survive.

The same kind of hunting happened in village Karbishi, Gori region, where it ended tragically – 5 people died and 11 were wounded

Tamaz Zerekidze. Professor of physical and mathematical sciences, Ph.D