They died a dreadful death
23.03.2009 // 22:32

Among thousands victims of the next genocide, organized by Georgia, many people found their death on the way from Tskhinval to Dzau, when they tried to get out of the besieged city and the villages occupied by the Georgian invaders to more safe place. There were husband and wife Miroslav Valiev (46 years old) and Jeanne Khasieva (44 years old) and their relative Liane Dudaeva (38 years old), the wife of Miroslav`s brother, among them. They died dreadful death. Fatima Mamieva, the spouse of Jeanne’s brother, the witness to this terrible accident, tells:

On August, 7 and 8, when Tskhinval was under the massive artillery bombardment from Georgia, we together with my husband and my mother, whom I took home from village Hetagurovo in the afternoon of August, 7, took cover in the basement. Jeanne and Liane, which live in the neighborhood, on Ostrovsky Street, were hiding in the cellars too. Lubomir, the husband of Liane at that time was carrying out his service on the post in village Grom, and Mir (Miroslav) was in Vladikavkaz where he brought the children on the eve.

In the afternoon of August 9, Mir returned in Tskhinval for his wife, Jeanne`s parents and Liane. He came to us. He was excited by that he saw in the city and hurried us. He said that it was necessary to pack our things and go with him to Vladikavkaz. My husband Albert did not want to go, but Mir insisted, he said that we had to leave immediately or it would be too late.

At that time our district was taken over by panic, the people learned that the Georgian tanks again have entered the city. We learned that Georgian soldiers threw grenades in the basements and kill civilian population. People were fleeing wherever they could. We got into our car and together with Miroslav drove to his house. The parents of Jeanne and Albert got into our car, and Mir`s wife and Liane were in Mir`s car. We left the city into two cars. When we drove through the city, I was shaking with fear. Explosions were occurring everywhere, buildings were on fire and everything around us was collapsing. As soon as we left the city, we thought that the worst was over and we were saved.

On the way to village Tbet we were stopped by the soldiers. They advised us to return and warned us that the Georgians already occupied Tbet village and it’s dangerous to drive through it. But Miroslav was sure that the road is free from the Georgians, because just an hour ago he drove there. We moved further. But during an hour everything has changed there. Destroyed cars lined the road and dead bodies were everywhere. Past the Tbet village we noticed a group of Georgian armored troops. We sped up. Our car drove ahead, and Mir’s “Volga” followed us. They started shooting at us. A shell landed right next to our car and pieces of it damaged the car. Our car has braked. At this moment Mir overtook us. In a few seconds a shell flew past us with a hiss and slammed right into Miroslav`s “Volga”. His car has blown up, was thrown into the air, caught fire and fell back down. The pieces of human meat felled down. I was shocked, I couldn’t understanding what it was and where from.

I looked at the husband, there were pieces of meat on him, and I took fright, I thought, that he was wounded. He said that he was safe and sound and pointed at the car, where Mir, Jeanne and Liane were. The shell which hit their “Volga”, ripped them to small pieces.

We had no time to realize what’s happened; we were under the fire of different kind of weaponry. We drove away from there, but something rang out near to us again. A shock wave threw our car from the road aside the forest. It’sstoppedworking.

This tragedy had happened on road Zarskaya, past village Galuanta. Albert together with me and our mothers jumped out of a car and ran into a wood. The father of my husband left in the car, he could not get out, on the way he had a nervous attack and lost ability to move. Albert told us to go through a wood, and he would somehow start the car and will wait us in Zar village. Many times he tried to return to damaged car of Mir in order to check them up, to pull them out, but as soon as he came nearer, they began to shoot at him and he had to leave them. Albert stayed with his father, and we went through a wood, trying not to deep into it so that not to lose the sight of a road and not to get lost. Every time the shooting got stronger, we lay down on the ground and waited while it would be calmer.

Thus, from one o'clock in the afternoon to eight o'clock in the evening we have passed several kilometers. It was very hard to go through the wood thicket. We already hardly moved our legs. Exhausted, we reached Zar village and went from a wood on road. We saw many soldiers. They were Russians. But we didn`t understand it at once, we thought they were Georgians and put our hands in the air. They noticed us too and gave a wave, calling us. There was Albert among them, when he saw us, he turned up. He managed to start his damaged car and with punctured tire to drive up to Zar village. There he changed the tire and we moved towards Vladikavkaz.

On August, 11 Jeanne`s cousin found Mir`s “Volga”. It had been still where it was hit by the Georgian scums. He gathered the parts of Mir`s, Jeanne`s and Liane`s bodies and buried them there, in a field. Then they were reburied in Northern Ossetia, but there was nothing to bury already, very little remains from Mir, Jeanne and Liane. They died a dreadful death. I saw that by my own eyes. I don`t know, whether I could ever come to myself and forget this horror…” 

Miroslav Valiev was a taxi driver. Jeanne Khasieva worked as a nurse in the republican somatic hospital for a long time. Liane Dudaeva worked as a director of a secondary school in Mahis village.

Miroslav and Jeannes had two daughters aged 13 and 15. Lubomir, who lost his wife Liane, has a daughter, the student, and a son Oleg aged15.

Soslan Tigiev

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva