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Marina Dzagoeva
On 7 August I was at home. Approximately at 23:30, the bombardment of the town started. Our family decided to go down to the basement. We stayed there till the morning hiding from the shelling. About 20 persons were in the basement...read more

Peter Petoev
On 7 August when shelling of Tskhinval started, my wife Rusudan, 54 and son Stepan, 26 went to the house basement to hide from the bombardment. We spent the night there and then in the morning of the 8th of August we decided to go to our neighbor's cellar, as we thought it was safer than ours... read more

Zalina Kabisova
I live in the Khetagurovo village with my husband Sergey Lokhov and my two sons, Grigory Lokhov and Lavrenty. On 7 of August 2008 the Georgian troops started the artillery bombardment of our village from different types of heavy arms, including grenade launchers, Grad system and tanks... read more

Nadezhda Kokoeva
On the 8 August we were together in the basement. In the evening the four of them, (the mother, Raya Tskhovrebova, 50, her daughter, Elina Kadzhaeva, 26, her uncle and their neighbor, 82 years old woman), went home, and climbed down to the concrete pit in the garage of their house... read more

Elena Doguzova
On 3 August I took my two sons Artur Galavanov, 7, and Igor Galavanov, 3, to Valdikavkaz for them to spend their summer holidays. My husband stayed in Tskhinval as he was working as a peacekeeper. On 7 August at 11 o'clock I called my husband and told him that I had watched TV and heard the Georgian President stating that Georgia was for peaceful negotiations... read more

Yakov Kozaev
On 9 August at about 13:00 we learned that Georgian troops occupied the village of Tsunar (Khetagurovo). Inhabitants of Khetagurovo village, women, children and elderly people, started to hide in our village and in neighboring villages... read more

Alexandr Kokoev
On 7 August I was at home. My parents live in the village of Tbet, Tskhinvali region. I did not know how they were doing till my niece called me on 9 August and told me that my mother had died... read more

Svetlana Guchmazova
When the heavy shelling started on the first night, we all hid in a neighbor's cellar. It seemed like the safest place to withstand the heavy Georgian bomb attacks, which lasted all night... read more

Mariya Dzhieva
They came at night and told us the Georgians had captured Okona. They managed to capture it because our defenders stood there with just automatic guns, while the Georgians came with tanks and other heavy artillery... read more

Tamaz Kobesov and Svetlana Tuaeva
When the shelling started on 7 August, my husband and I ran to our neighbors to hide in their basement. On 8 August, when it became quiet, we left for Vladikavkaz, taking the Zar road via village of Tbet... read more

Valieva Fatima
When the shelling started, we hid in the cellar of one of the houses. We thought we would be safe there. I don't know if they were shelling that spot on purpose, but the bombs were always falling there... read more

Gabaev Khariton
On the night of 7 August about half past twelve the shelling started. The shelling was very violent so we ran to the forest. My feet and legs hurt badly, so it was very difficult. When the shelling stopped for some time on the morning of 8th August, I decided to go home... read more

Alla Gergaulova
The grief that had befell the wife of Mairbek Dzhusoev, is immeasurable. Husband, father, support and hope of the whole family. Everything collapsed in a moment, unexpectedly and forever... read more

Djussoev Family
On 8 August, Mairbek Djussoev decided to take his wife Nelli and their son and daughter (Dina and Aslan) to Vladikavkaz. Nelli's sister and her two small children, a two-year toddler and a seven-month baby, jammed into the car as well... read more

Irina Bestaeva
During the invasion, I was in Tskhinval in the city district called "Voenni gorodok." From 7 to 8 August, we were calmer than ever, because we were told an official ceasefire was announced on TV... read more

Fira Bestaeva
The shootings started in our village beginning 1 August. A sniper killed one villager, a very good young man named Bestaev Garik... read more

Zaira Khurieva
On the night of August 7th, violent shelling began. I, and several others, hid in the cellar of our house. Our village had already been shelled for about a month, so we knew we had to hide in the cellars... read more

Tekhov Inal
On 7th of August, Georgian troops concentrated their forces in our district. They readied very large caliber weapons, machinery, and started shelling the villages of Dmenis, Khelchua, Satikar and others... read more

Marina Muldarova
On the night of August 7, [President] Saakashvili announced that Georgian and Ossetian negotiators had worked out an agreement. Our family went to bed. At about midnight, we were awakened by deafening sounds... read more

Marina Djioeva
On 7 August, (President) Saakashvili delivered a speech on Georgian TV professing his love of South Ossetian people, promising them continued safety in their own territory... Around midnight, the shelling began... read more

Snezhana Kharebova
Currently I am at Vladikavkaz hospital. On 8 August in the morning my mother and I were in our beds, on the second floor of our house. Suddenly a terrible explosion occurred somewhere very near our place, all windows were broken... read more

Manana Plieva and Zalina Kachlaeva
Manana Plieva and her daughter Zalina Kachlaeva were killed by a mortar explosion. Their story is told by their neighbor Roland Tedeev, the headmaster of a Tskhinval orphanage... read more

Nato Besaeva
When I heard the shooting I decided to go down to the cellar and wait until it slowed down. Soon I heard people approaching my house. Three men entered. One of them was an inhabitant of the neighboring Georgian village of Ksuis... read more

Lydiya Sergeevna Kokoeva
During those early August days my sister called and said that the situation was really very bad and that we needed to get away from the town. I wasn't planning to leave, and I didn't want to go, but the children were very scared, and so I decided to leave... read more

Kozaev Family
On the first night, when the town was shelled by all types of heavy weapons, we all hid in the cellar of our neighbor's house, which seemed to us the safest place. We hoped it could withstand the aerial bombardment by Georgian planes. Heavy blasts were heard all the night... read more

Mziya Kachmazova
As you know, the shooting and shelling of different intensity had been going on for about a week before the 7th. But there had been breaks in the shooting. They were stopping and then resuming... read more

Tatyana Dzukaeva
When the houses started to burn mine was the first one. I called my neighbor Onisim Djagaev for help. He came running to my place and we ran upstairs. We did not have enough water, and there was not enough time for us to extinguish the fire... read more

Dmitry Bestaev
It started at about midnight on 7 August. My wife and I woke up and heard the shelling. All kinds of weapons were firing, including the Grad system (multiple- launching rockets)... read more

Svetlana Nanieva
On the evening of 7 August, I went to bed early, because I was very tired. We had heard shooting throughout the day. On that day Saakashvili delivered a speech on Georgian TV. In his usual hypocritical way, he claimed that he loved and respected the Ossetian people and wanted peace; he promised not to start a war... read more