Last week, South Ossetia, as well as around the world, celebrated the International Day of the Missing. Over the entire period of permanent aggression of Georgia in South Ossetia, 137 people are listed to be missing. Diplomats, public organizations, the Ombudsman, and members of the mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross are engaged in their search.
Unfortunately, people disappear not only during the war. A resident of Tskhinval Vladimir Pukhaev applied to the editorial office of the “Res” agency. Six years ago, his son, Nikolai, born in 1969, went missing.
According to the father, since the end of September 2013 there has been no news from his son.
“In the evening, September 28, he left the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and never returned. Six years have passed, and we still do not know anything about his fate. Nevertheless, we do not stop believing in miracles, we hope that he is alive and will someday open the doorsof his house,” said Vladimir Pukhaev.
The father said that his son in different years had been working in the law enforcement agencies of the Republic, faithfully performed his duties, and was respected among his colleagues.
After the disappearance of his son, Vladimir Pukhaev applied to the Department of Internal Affairs of Tskhinval, where a criminal case was opened on this fact by the prosecutor's office of Tskhinval.
As IA “Res” has been informed by the city prosecutor’s office, during the preliminary investigation together with the Tskhinval police department, were surveyed the abandoned houses in the capital of the Republic, the destroyed building of a psychiatric hospital with its basements, and destroyed houses in the territories of nearby villages - Tamarashen, Kekhvi, Kurta.
“There were conducted searches in the village of Kheit, conversations with residents of the village of Mamisantuban adjacent to the city. Together with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the banks of the Liakhva River were also surveyed. Photos of Nikolai Pukhaev were posted everywhere, orders were sent to the district police departments to conduct operational-search measures to establish the whereabouts of the missing person,” the prosecutor’s office said.
They have noted that on December 8, 2013, the case was suspended due to the failure to establish the whereabouts of Pukhaev.
On a regular basis, from 2013 to 2018, the prosecutor's office in Tskhinval sent reminders to the district police departments to intensify the work to establish the whereabouts of Nikolai Pukhaev, however, all the investigative procedural actions did not bring any results. In this regard, the Tskhinvali Department of Internal Affairs has opened a search case, during which measures are constantly being taken to establish the whereabouts of the missing man.
Despite the lack of search results, the Pukhaev family do not lose hope of seeing a loved one again, every day of the past six years is filled with faith for his parents, friends and relatives that a miracle will happen.
