On August 8, commemorative events, dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the beginning of the Georgian military aggression against South Ossetia, were held in foreign missions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Ossetia, while the tragic events of that days were also remembered in friendly states.
A prayer service for South Ossetian civilians, killed as a result of the Georgian aggression, the defenders of Tskhinval, Ossetian and Russian servicemen of the peacekeeping forces, soldiers and officers of the Russian army, who had protected South Ossetia from physical destruction at the cost of their lives, was held in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The commemorative event was attended by employees of the Embassy of the Republic of South Ossetia, the Embassy of the Republic of Abkhazia, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania to the President of the Russian Federation in Moscow, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Crimea to the President of the Russian Federation in Moscow, the Moscow Ossetian community, as well as parishioners of the Cathedral.
The Embassy of South Ossetia in Abkhazia also honored the memory of those killed during the Georgian aggression in August 2008. Vice-President of Abkhazia Badra Gunba, Prime Minister of Abkhazia Alexander Ankvab, Head of the Presidential Administration of Abkhazia Dzhansukh Nanba, Secretary of the Security Council of Abkhazia Sergey Shamba, Minister of Defense of Abkhazia Vladimir Anua, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia Inal Ardzinba, Russian Ambassador to Abkhazia Mikhail Shurgalin, Head of the Official Representative Office of Pridnestrovie in Abkhazia Garry Kupalba, members of Parliament of Abkhazia came to the Embassy to pay tribute to the victims. The attendees observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims of August 2008. Recalling the events of August 2008, the Ambassador of South Ossetia to Abkhazia Oleg Botsiev emphasized that the genocide experienced by the people of South Ossetia at the hands of Georgian nationalists cannot be justified by anything. On behalf of the President and the people of Abkhazia Badra Gunba expressed words of support to the fraternal, long-suffering people of South Ossetia, and delivered words of gratitude to the authorities of Russia, which made the fateful decision for the peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on those August days.
In Tiraspol, at St. George Chapel on the Memorial of Glory Square, a flower-laying ceremony was held in memory of the victims of the 2008 War. The requiem rally was attended by official representatives of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, representatives of the authorities of Pridnestrovie, residents of the city. Head of the Official Representation of South Ossetia in Pridnestrovie Vitaliy Yankovskiy noted that the Ossetian people appreciate and would never forget the support by the Pridnestrovians, who were among the first to help South Ossetia in August 2008, and stressed that only together it is possible to resist genocide and aggression.
An action dedicated to this tragic date was also held in the city of Pesaro in Italy.
Tskhinval, August 8, 2023