In Russia, the Caucasus and some European cities, events were held on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of the start of the August 2008 war in South Ossetia.
In Tskhinvali, the capital of the former Georgian republic, people gathered for the Living Light of Memory event, while in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow a requiem for the dead was held.
Memorial events were also held in Tbilisi and Gori in Georgia, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made his first visit to Abkhazia, which like South Ossetia completed its drawn out divorce from Georgia after the war.
Medvedev met with President Sergei Bagapsh in Sukhumi, vowing to further develop Russia's relations with the republic, and visited the Russian military base in Gudauta.
On the night of August 7-8, 2008, Tbilisi shelled South Ossetia, Georgian troops attacked the republic and destroyed part of Tskhinvali. Russia, defending the South Ossetians, many of whom have Russian citizenship, sent troops into the republic and after five days of fighting forced out the Georgian forces.
The South Ossetian authorities said more than 1,500 people were killed and 15,000 more were harmed, although Russian prosecutors documented the deaths of 162 citizens. Sixty-seven Russian soldiers, including some peacekeepers, were also killed during the conflict.
Two weeks after a truce was agreed, Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Events to commemorate the tragic events of 2008 began on Friday, when the Ossetian communities in Brussels, Strasbourg and Berlin began a series of actions calling for an objective look at the war and condemning the Georgian regime. In Strasbourg, activists protested in front of the Council of Europe. RIA Novosti
