On top of the barriers

Report from the border between South Ossetia and Georgia

The destroyed houses of the former Georgian villages of South Ossetia. On the left behind them is the territory of Georgia on top of the barriers. Ossetinka Rosa Doguzova, a former employee of the Georgian passport table, during the time of Zviad Gamsakhurdia was imprisoned, and now heses the chickens at the store in the village of Linkor. The village returned this name to itself in August 2008-along with the return to South Ossetia. “There is no such Ossetian house where there are no Georgian relatives,” says Rosa. The New Times watched what changed in the republic, which survived the real political crisis over the past year, Ossetian and Georgian relatives became closer or further and are they not afraid of a new war
At the village of Buron, the bus Vladikavkaz -Zhinval got up. "What is there?" - "The armored personnel carrier rolled over until they raise it from the river - we will not go." “Is it often?” “Warriors are still drivers, often an accident.” - “And where does such a column (dozens of Beterers on trailers, dozens of fuel trucks, covered trucks with the imploring inscription“ People ”)? From maneuvers, are they going? " - "The maneuvers there, in the north, and these are from the local Russian military base." Then knowledgeable people explained: Bether go to the north as part of a planned rotation of units assigned to the base - so that as many Russian units as possible gain experience close to combat.

The corner of Stalin used to be brand new military towns could only be seen north of the Rock tunnel. And after August 2008, they appeared in South Ossetia: in the republic there was one of the few Russian foreign bases along with bases in Transcaucasia and Central Asia.

On both sides of the tunnel, monuments of Stalin are also noticeable. Only if in South Ossetia, next to the gorge, where they are still proud of distant kinship with the “leader of the peoples”, there is a modest, bordered bust, then on the North Ossetian side - a magnificent memorial recently tied.

In the village of Linkor, where 1,200 inhabitants, a street leading from the central square, bears the name of the Generalissimo: from the Georgian rule the tablets on the houses remained in two languages. In Tskhinval, Stalin Street is also central. The corner of the government, where the president of the republic, comes out with an angle. And right to this street, the entrance is turned over, over which two flags tremble: local and Russian. Because here is the Ministry of Defense. Together with the local military, Russian lodges.

By the way, about the entrances and the Ministry of Defense. Recently, unknown people blew up the door of the apartment of the Deputy Minister of Defense of RUO Ibrahim Gassiev. He suffered, survived, got to the hospital. The performers and customers of the loud in the literal sense of the word crime have not yet been found. The Prosecutor General of the Republic Merab Chigoev told The New Times that the investigation does not exclude the versions of involvement in the explosion of foreign intelligence services.

The angle of view that the “leader and teacher” used (although he was not invented by him) still affects reality. Imperial, playing mass hysteria, leading which Joseph Vissarionovich was able to press the white keys of enthusiasm and the black keys of fear. And more contempt for the individual, the bet on depersonalization is in national, ideological, class or clan form. Unfortunately, this game is noticeable in political events not only on both sides of the Rock Pass, but also on both sides of the border with Georgia.

Stalin Street, next to the Government House in Tskhinval , 20 km before Tbilisi after the 2008 war, many Georgians left South Ossetia forever, but there are those who, on the contrary, settled in it again. Without leaving your home. During the war of 1989-1992, the most part of the Linkogorsky district, inhabited by Georgians, was annexed to Georgia. South Ossetia returned these places to herself four years ago as a result of the war. When the soldiers of the Ossetian militia in August 2008 entered Linkor, they wanted to say a monument to the founders of the village with bullets. But then it turned out that the two brothers depicted on it were the Ossetians of the Bibilov, who founded the settlement at the beginning of the 17th century. The brothers did not touch.

How many Georgians live in the Linkogorsky district is unclear, many work abroad of the republic, children were also transported there. Therefore, in six Georgian schools and five Ossetian people (and in the language of teaching and in textbooks - Russians) there are only 296 students. Tamaz Kikashvili, the chief accountant of the orphanage, says that out of 42 pupils 20 are children from low -income families who leave home at night. And when asked about conflicts within the common orphanage, he answers: "We even have Ossetian boys cleanly speak Georgian."

The Linkogorsk district is small, almost three sides borders on Georgia, there is no production, except for agriculture. Inside there is a very small enclave, where Ossetians mainly live, they are occupied by agriculture, and in Linkor itself and a dozen settlements around Georgians graze cattle.

Local leaders: the heads of the district, the village, the rural administration, the head of the police, the head of the education and the construction department, the Georgians and the Ossetians - everyone is talking about the need to establish constant contact with the population, and the ordinary Leningorians are complaining that earlier - both under Gamsakhurdia and Co -Cockeut - the power was a bandit. And at the same time, everyone does not believe in the possibility of a new armed conflict with Georgia.

Only one person in Tskhinval considered it necessary to say about it. “We cannot exclude the option,” said Leonid Tibilov, President of South Ossetia, in a conversation with The New Times, “in which Saakashvili’s regime will try to distract the attention of the population from serious internal problems due to some external actions. Moreover, recently there has been an activation of Georgian military units near the state border with southern Ossetia. In particular, fortifications are being erected by the Ministry of Defense of Georgia by the Ministry of Defense of Georgia. ”

In the Linkor itself, in addition to the military town, the base of the Ministry of Emergencies and the new hospital recently also appeared fortifications - loopholes look at their roads. The road from Tskhinval to Leningor is still amazing: asphalt, in all European standards, the canvas alternates with the fords of mountain rivers and rustic puddles. By the New Year, the road is promised to make a civilized one along the entire 80-kilometer length. In the meantime, the nearest path to the Georgian cities - right from Tskhinval to Gori. In general, roads in these places sometimes act as a border: passing through some village, they share two countries-South Ossetia and Georgia, and the Russian military stand almost on the outskirts of Georgian villages. Probably, this attracted the attention of the Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Rashid Nurgaliev, who recently came to Linkor and met not only with the Russian military, but also with local residents. Before that, he visited such an inspection in Abkhazia.

From the extreme settlement of the Linkogorsky district to Tbilisi - 20 km. Every hour from the checkpoint, minibuses go to Georgia, people go there to work: there are few jobs in the area. True, recently in the field of employment, improvements are noticeable: 96 people have gained in housing and communal services, they receive 12-15 thousand rubles each, which is quite decent by Georgian standards. Recently, according to the head of the district administration, Jemal Dzhigkaev, 70 Lenigorian Georgians received South Ossetian passports. This means that now they will be able to get Russian citizenship.

Eva, Dalico and Nani Dzharmelishvili in the reception of the head of the administration of the Linkogorsky district of Jemal Dzhigkaev, golden pits in the market, still designated in Tskhinval as a “collective farm”, the saleswoman says: “Teresa. Mother Teresa - you know? And I'm Teresa. Of course, it has become better in recent months - there are more hopes, pits on the streets began to fall asleep. God grant him health! - This is her about President Tibilov. “Maybe the new (authorities) also steal, I don’t know, but it seems that they take it so much,” and she is in a semicircle of the cheese that a small segment is trading, “and the rest goes into business.”

The entire center of Tskhinval, like a year ago, is now rummaged. Skeptics are smiling: the earthquakes are financially the most profitable, and therefore they dug them earlier without end under the same cable. But now they began to do it honestly: they are not just buried the hole, but even bring the case to asphalt and dividing strips.

The new Prosecutor General of the Republic, Merab Chigoev, introduces the topic into the framework of criminal cases: “Now, from the money mastered by the builders, they“ reinforced ”260 million - they tried to submit one work twice in the reports ... In general, we have most claims to employees of the former government (President Eduard Kokoita. - The New Times) - for construction. 14 criminal cases have already been opened, four more - under the stage of consideration. Among the defendants are the former first deputy prosecutor general, five former ministers - healthcare, capital, road construction, economic development, and heads of state -owned enterprises. 20 million (rubles) has already been returned to the budget. Many cases, unfortunately, are inhibited by the fact that many of the citizens of our citizens are at the same time both citizens of the Russian Federation, and when the smell of fried, they washed off to Russia. ”

The former authorities of the republic, complains Chigoev, "were not able to digest" golden rain ", poured from Russia, establish discipline, accounting and distribution of funds." And other officials add: for the construction of military towns, they purchased, for example, crushed stone for 2800 rubles per cubic meter. On the spot could be taken by an order of magnitude cheaper. But, apparently, it is not necessary to ...

Deputy Prime Minister Alla Gioeva, who oversees social issues, unexpectedly frankly designated the main brake for the development of the republic: “The years of wars and humanitarian aid corrupted the people, he forgot that the salvation of a drowning primarily his own concern. We want to get rid of dependency so that the Ossetian people regain a collective spirit. ”

The collective spirit, among other things, is the reconciliation of former opponents in the presidential campaign in South Ossetia, who, in almost six-month confrontation after the November 2011 elections, almost reached the civil war, previously unthinkable in Ossetian society: in history it happened that Ossetians repeatedly changed allies, but they never fought with each other. Now those who last winter on the theater square in Tskhinval defended the legitimacy of the chosen President Dzhioeva, and those who served already retired to President Kokoita and his protege Anatoly Bibilov, and those who ultimately compromised Leonid Tibilov are forced to work together.

Natural disagreement in the moods in the team of Tibilov, some warn, can become a prerequisite for its failure and quick decay. So far, this is not visible. For the first time, the Prosecutor General personally travels around the regions of the republic and accepts complaints, and the Deputy Prime Minister sits up late in his office, solving the problems of healthcare, culture, and social security.

The leaders of the republic notes that today Russian officials who establish ties with the new authorities of South Ossetia are much more adequate than the former. The number of visitors from Russia serving the military base is constantly growing - the military, builders, their families of their families are already almost as many as the indigenous inhabitants. Ordhanes, of course, are worried about such a “occupation”: “They say that they released us and therefore can dispose of us.” Does this cause tension in society? Answering this question The New Times, President Leonid Tibilov is categorical: “No, does not cause and cannot call. Both builders and the Russian military work on us side by side with the local population. South Ossetia is a multinational state. ”

Alla Gioeva even more broadly extends the scope of the topic: “I would like Russia to see an ally in us, not a burden. In Russia itself, not everyone likes Caucasians. And we don't like the slogan "Stop feeding the Caucasus!" For so many years, we have opposed Georgian attempts to make us slaves so that someone else saw the slaves in us. ”

The Russian military put their towns on the outskirts of the villages. There, behind the barracks, - Georgia “Spy” Tamara Tamara Mearakishvili - Director of the Leningorian House of Children's Creativity, where, under the leadership of 12 teachers, 48 ​​children are engaged in drawing, modeling, folk dancing, guitar. Recently, on the day of the republic, they traveled to Tskhinval, performed in the square, representing their area. Despite this, there was a “well -wisher” who wrote a denunciation on Mearakishvili: she, they say, filmed Rashid Nurgaliev in the area in the video and handed it to Georgia by e -mail. "That's what an experienced, cunning and clever spy!" - laughs Tamara.

She travels with her pupils and in Tbilisi. True, now with some difficulties. A few years ago, it was belonged to it respectfully, the Minister of Culture of Georgia Nikoloz Rurois personally called, invited him to the office, obviously, considered an important conductor of Georgian influence. But then she unsuccessfully played the role of Santa Claus: she asked the pupils who they would like to meet, who they dream of. And without promising the children, she phoned their chosen ones. Everyone agreed to take part in a joint holiday. Among them was rapper Bara Ivanishvili, the son of one of the leaders of the Georgian opposition - billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. After that, the Ministry of Culture of Georgia quite in Russian demanded that Tamara be excluded from the program of cultural figures supporting the opposition. Mearakishvili refused. Since then, at the entrance to Georgia, representatives of special services every time in two mobile phones find out whether it is worth letting it into Georgian territory.

Now Tamara considers himself an oppositionist that the office of Rurois is now unavailable, does not spare. Only now children do not have plasticine, colors, and other artistic consumables. So even if you, dear readers, do not want to support the Georgian opposition, you can support Georgian and Ossetian children in Leningrad.

Tamara Mearakishvili herself simply explains the meaning of her activity: “I want to make friends Tskhinval and Linkor, because after five to ten years the relations inside our country will be determined by our grown-up children.”