Georgian Defence Minister: 133 militaries lost in South-Ossetia

David Kezerashvili, Minister of Defence of Georgia, told journalists on August 17 when visiting the Vasian Military Base that 133 militaries were lost and 50 more are regarded missing after the warfare in South Ossetia.

Earlier, Sandro Kvitashvili, Minister of Public Health of Georgia, stated that in military actions starting from August 8 the Georgian party had lost 175 persons.

However, the "Interfax" reports that many military experts assert that losses of the Georgian army are higher by an order of magnitude; the agency also quotes Gennady Onischenko, Russian Chief Sanitary Inspector, that the authorities of Georgia are inadmissibly indifferent to their lost soldiers. According to Mr Onischenko, the Tbilisi authorities did not even attempt to return bodies for burial.

Let us note here that earlier Tskhinvali authorities had not excluded the transfer of the bodies of Georgian militaries to the Georgian party. Irina Gagloeva, official spokesperson of the government of South Ossetia, has stated that practically all the bodies of Georgian casualties in the warfare "had been earthed to prevent spread of cholera." Ms Gagloeva has emphasized that there were quite a lot of bodies.

She has added that should Georgian authorities apply, "they will be provided with an opportunity to exhume and take away the remains according to international norms."