Russians destroy Georgian school

Russian occupiers have destroyed Georgian-Russian Secondary School number 3 in the Akhalgori district, a part of Georgia now under control of Russians and Ossetians. Eyewitnesses say that the occupiers have already sold off construction materials taken from the ruins and brought in new ones.

150 Georgian and Ossetian pupils were studying at the abovementioned School. The de facto regime in Tskhinvali has transferred them to Akhalgori School number 1.

The Georgian side has described the demolition as an aggressive and barbarous act. “It is believed a settlement for Russian military families will be built there,” stated Akhalgori’s Governor, Avtandil Kochishvili. The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released a statement declaring that the demolition is a continuation of the ethnic cleansing policy of the Russians which makes it even clearer that Russia is ignoring international law including granting everyone the right to gain an education in his/her native language.

The Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the demolition and demanded that Russia stop violating the human rights of the Ossetian as well as the Georgian people. It has appealed to international community to take this incident into account and make Russia fulfill its obligations.

However the head of the Akhalgori Resource Centre, Nugzar Papunashvili, has told The Messenger that this school has been in disrepair since the early nineties and no pupils have studied there since then. It was initially an eight form school, but due to the small number of pupils it was closed.