24.09.2008 23:30 | The Tragedy of South Ossetia. Testimony of Witnesses: Gabueva Larissa Nugzarovna, 1968
 Gabueva Larissa Nugzarovna, born in 1968, 36 Gagloeva St., doctor-pediatrist of children's health centre.
On August 5, the children's health center was no longer working. I came to work, called up the head physician, and he said that we do not work. I asked: “And on Friday?” He said: “We will see, depending on the situation”.People had no fears whatsoever. Before that, we made survey of the children population - 25% of the children remained in the city. We indeed evacuated children, to Rostov, to Vladikavkaz, but mainly because it was a rest for them. There was no particular warning, nobody expected such an attack, indeed Saakashvili has said that there will be no shooting, and our president assured that we have all means to be protected... And all was absolutely quiet, nobody tried to leave nowhere. In the night of Friday, August 8, at 23.30 this shelling by large-caliber weapons began, I feel shaking again throughout my body. On that day I was on duty in the maternity hospital, and because for that moment there were no lying-in women, we were on duty in-home. In order not to wake up late at night, I decided nevertheless to go to work to be on the safe side.
When the bombardment began, I came back home halfway. We did not even run to the basement, somehow we were not afraid, we thought that it was just another common shelling and it will end soon. We hid in the space between two houses - I, my husband, father-in-law 73 years old and mother-in law 78 years old. We got the children out earlier, but it was not due to the war, there were simply referrals to rehabilitation center “Phoenix”.
We thought that the shelling was about to end, though it felt somewhat unusual - we never had such a bombardment. All the time we heard assurances that South Ossetia can cope with any aggression by its own forces. All city dwellers will tell you this - we were not ready for such a war, and could not even imagine, what such action is possible against a peaceful population. The bombardment went on and on, it became clear that we had to get out of there.
We ran to the house - again not to the basement, but to the ground floor. The entrance to our basement was blocked by a car which stood there, at entrance, and it was impossible to drive out the car under the bullets. We settled on the floor, as we could, and towards morning there was a little lull in the shelling, it many, who ran to visit one's relatives, who went upstairs to their apartments for groceries, blankets and documents. The bombardment was resumed soon after and caught the people completely unprotected. A new powerful bombardment from “Grad" and rockets began and in front of our eyes the missiles hit the neighbor's houses, and two houses – of Byazrov Murat and Tedeyev Lerik – caught fire. From a “Grad” missile, a house lighted up and burned in its entirety in 20 minutes. So was burned the house of doctor Tokmayeva Nelli in the second day. Neighbors could not help with anything, because shrapnel was falling down like rain, the bullets whistled, and there was nothing to extinguish the fire with, indeed there was no water in the city all of this time, not even drinking water- so one should not divide the Georgians into militant and peaceful. The former destroyed us by fire, the latter - tormented the city by thirst, sending all water to their gardens.
Everyone was waiting, though any hope has already been lost, talks started that the Russians betrayed us. Our guys ran around helplessly and tried somehow to defend themselves, and to a question: “What is going on?” they answered: “We are encircled!” – and ran away. We asked, where is the command, where are all authorities - what authorities, they shouted, we are encircled, and now almost everyone thinks of how to rescue his own skin. Some absolutely unfamiliar guy from OMON ran into our house, from the horror I have not even memorized his surname, he asked for our car, UAZ, said that he will return it, if only he would break out of the encirclement… he took the car , naturally, nobody could refuse him.
On the following day the battle continued, and we got at last to our basement – the entrance there was unblocked once the car was taken. In one instance, when things slightly settled down - evidently, they recharged the weapons, or something else, - in this moment I went upstairs. When I came back, just in the second I went to the basement, a rocket flew to our first floor. It knocked out all the glass, the doors – such was the impact, the wooden doors flew out as well. Some fragments flew to our apartment as well, our oriental carpet was burned up – luckily it was made of artificial material otherwise a fire would start. There was a “Volga” standing in the courtyard, its back window was shattered, the trunk too was honeycombed by shrapnel. Luckily the fuel tank was not hit.
Our guys said that a lot of infantry comes our way, and that they are already near the plant “E'mal'provod”. We had both doors and windows open, and I thought that now Georgians will enter our house and make camp there, then our end is coming. Our house is just near the road.
Therefore I was afraid to stay at our place, moved to my parents’ house, there the basement was deeper, and almost all the neighbors sat there. And my father-in -law, mother-in law and Roland, my husband, houses remained in our house.
And so we sat in the basement until the Russian troops entered. By the way, they entered late. Nobody was believing in Russians any longer, all said that Russia betrayed us, and there was almost no hope left.
In the following morning after the bombardment to our neighbors their son came running and said that they should run fast to the peacekeepers that the Georgians are already in the city. We with our parents were in the basement and, hearing these shouts, ran out to learn what is happening. They have already run to the peacekeepers, so, we could no longer join them. I ran to my sister, to find out, they are alive or not - they live a few houses away from us, once I made sure that they are alive, I ran back. And suddenly I saw a neighbor who somehow looked very hopelessly at me from the window. I said that she should run to the basement, now there will be bombardment, as the Georgians took the city. She said: “We have no basement”. “Then run to ours”, - I said. She delayed again and with the entirely hopeless voice asked: “My husband is a Georgian. Will you let him in as well? “” Now run to us together with your husband “, - I said and ran home.
So all of us gathered in our basement and under the rumble of tank shots waited only for a divine miracle, because it was clear –before the Russian tanks would come in, the Georgians “will work” the city to the ground. A neighbor’s boy came running, said that he lost his parents when they ran to the peacekeepers.
And then a real hail began, I do not know, how else can it be named, above our heads was a constant thunder, the howl of missiles, the singing of bullets. In one word, a doomsday. Neighbors’ houses began to burn. I felt that we are pushed by waves from all of this- where “Grad” missiles dropped everything was starting to blaze. We heard that there are many victims around the city; many soldiers are wounded, with no one to bandage them even.
Suddenly our neighbors who escaped to the peacemakers have returned. They told that there was something terrible going on there: the Georgians approached almost to the peacekeepers’ military base, and the peacemakers themselves stood doomed and prepared for death. There was no space in the bunker; about 80 persons were packed there, although it was designed for no more than 20. In one instance our guys ran in and said: “If they find us now, we will be shot”. And the women started to hide the soldiers behind themselves. They were in shock, and what could they do?
We asked where were the authorities, the command, well, any administration. They said that they saw only, that Barankevich with a grenade launcher behind his shoulder jumped through the fence of the peacekeepers’ camp. All the journalists were there. Then our soldiers managed to break away somehow and through the Military impasse they reached their homes, and from there to our basement. As the result we had 12 persons with us. Nobody could eat, they only drank water. The funniest thing , if it was possible to laugh in such situation, was the fact there were some neighbors who did not speak with one another for 10 years, and here, in these two days they were reconciled in a moment and so cared about each other that I thought that you can never know, how your life would turn.
Still we were lucky compared to others. My mom was taught by the by bitter experience of the first war and it in the basement we had water, oil stove and bed. My dad always grumbled about her precautions, but mom refused to remove her “bunker”. The bombardment was terrible, all knew that the hospital is being fired at, there was nowhere to carry the wounded to, everything around was hit by the fragments. Probably, they aimed at the military base at the peacemakers, but we leave nearby-so we got hit.
We drove out finally, when everything has pretty much settled down. It was simply necessary to change the surroundings urgently, to look at some peaceful scenes, to save our psyche. The children were in Vladikavkaz, they kept calling us, and we were afraid that the rings, the bombardments would resume with more power. All noticed such a connection. Then some soldiers ran into our house, and told us that if we turn on the cell phones, we should turn on only one at a time. Then the battery was finished, but before that the last SMS came from my small niece: “Are you still alive”?
You know what else did I notice? At first somebody nearby would fire up three shots from an automatic rifle, and then powerful shelling on this place would begin. Somebody signaled to them, showed, where there was a congestion of people.
At one time it was quiet, and I was got out to investigate. I saw a dog running with wild speed, turning to our lane, dived to our courtyard and jumped to the basement - and straight under the bed. And it did not get out of there, until everything calmed down, and it was already the fifth day of bombardments. Then the dog got out and started to drink water from the bowl with craving.
On 11 August we left on a bus. There was no evacuation up to that time; people were leaving as they could. Only on August 11, at last, buses have arrived from Vladikavkaz. So at night, in dressing gowns, slippers, with some small things were left
I was at the funeral of Kachmazov sisters, you know, they did not even have a basement, they sat on the ground floor. A missile flew to their house, and they were burned in their own home. The funeral was here, in Vladikavkaz.
The people were completely unprepared for war. The people of Tskhinval were left to their own devices; it is if we were sacrificed. At the same time many children remained in the city. Some of them were driven out, but I heard that on Zar road, in the area of Tbet, a car with children was shot at and burned down. A 16 year old girl was ripped apart by a mine…
"The panel on documenting eyewitness testimony of the military operations in South Ossetia. August 2008". Vladikavkaz.
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