Tkviavi

Interview place, time and date: Tbilisi, Public School #191, 25.08.08, 17:15
Interviewer organization: Office of Public Defender
Respondent:man,54 years
Story code:0067
The bombings began on 10.08.08 by the air forces and by the artillery, I saw it with my own eyes, it was about 7 am and lasted until 7:30 am. At 12 in the afternoon tanks entered the village, followed by the troops wearing Russian uniforms comprised of Russians, Ossetians, Cossacks and Chechen armed men. On 13.08.08 they came to me and requested to given them my own automobiles. I gave them my "tricycle" (the so called "trangaletka") and tractor. They also took away from my house TV set, stereo system, electric hair drier and oth. That evening I hid myself in the yard near to my house. In the evening of August 13th I noticed how a jeep, the so called "willis", has approached my house, three armed men wearing Russian uniforms have disembarked the jeep they were accompanied with two dogs of the German shepherd breed. They were searching for the population who were hiding in the houses and the adjacent territory. Me and 10 of my co-villagers were forced to leave the village and walk all the way to Igoeti from Tkviavi, through yards and fields.
I witnessed how they burned houses of Tamaz Kapanadze, Zaza Razmadze and Misha Melitauri. Melitauri Misha, Chokheli Gogia and Melitauri Shaqro (78 years old) were first murdered and afterwards they burnt their houses.
They set Demetrashvili's house on fire, the population was able to put it off, however the combatants set the house on fire for the second time.
My co-villagers who were in the field – Vano Chikhladze, Korinteli Roin and Kapanadze Tamaz (Kapanadze still remains there), told me that armed men wearing Russian uniforms took with them about 30 women and men via a minibus allegedly for the purpose of cleaning up Tskhinvali. Since then nobody has seen these 30 people.