May 20 is annually celebrated in South Ossetia as the Commemoration Day of victims of the Georgian aggression.
On May 20, 1992, at the height of the Georgian military aggression against South Ossetia, on the bypass “road of life” through the village of Zar, a column of Ossetian civilians, who were trying to save their lives and were heading from South to North Ossetia, was shot down at point-blank range from an ambush by Georgian militants. As a result of this barbaric action, 33 people died - mostly children, women, the elderly.
According to tradition, at the place of the tragedy in the village of Zar, near the memorial “Mourning mother”, a mourning event “Memory of the people” was held, in which the leadership of the Republic of South Ossetia, headed by President Alan Gagloev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to South Ossetia Marat Kulakhmetov, a delegation from North Ossetia -Alania, representatives of ministries and agencies of the Republic, relatives of victims of the tragedy and the public took part. Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Ossetia participated in the event as well.
The participants laid wreaths and flowers at the monument to the victims of the Zar tragedy. A minute of silence was observed in memory of all those who fell at the hands of the Georgian fascists, who gave their lives in the struggle for the independence of their Motherland.
Tskhinval, May 20, 2023