On all fronts of the Great Patriotic War, the Ossetian warriors showed vivid examples of heroism, military art and readiness not to spare either themselves or the enemy for the sake of victory, South Ossetian President Alan Gagloev said, speaking on Thursday at the military parade in Tskhinval on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of the Victory in WWII.
“In the capital of the defeated fascist Germany, soldiers from South Ossetia also left their signatures on the walls of the Reichstag, who walked along the roads to the very lair of the Nazi beast. South Ossetia’s contribution to the victory many times exceeds the scale of our country,” the head of state has noted.
He has added that in 1942, defense lines were prepared on the passes.
“The formed battalions were preparing to meet the enemy. The fascist did not reach our territory, the enemy was stopped at the entrance to the North Ossetian gorges, but South Ossetia lost more lives in absolute numbers than a number of foreign states combined, declaring their great contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany,” the head said.
Alan Gagloev has reminded that from South Ossetia, which in 1920 went through the demographic catastrophe of genocide, over 22 thousand 700 people went to the front.
“Many of them were volunteers. This was practically the entire male population fit for military service. More than 18,000 soldiers from South Ossetia perished in the battles with the enemy on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. This is slightly less than a fifth of the total population of South Ossetia and almost 80 percent of adult men,” the head of state has emphasized.
The President has noted that South Ossetia has given the country eight heroes of the Soviet Union, more than some of the union republics combined.
“Let’s think about these numbers again. This is South Ossetia’s contribution to the victory. This is the price and memory of that war for our people,” the South Ossetian leader has noted.
