a brutal attack by georgian forces in our special report that is next on r.t. . silva seti allies in the heart of the caucasus between europe and asia. every day the sun rises over high mountains and cities built many centuries ago still retain their unique history. and a stone drake also b.f. goes for a job every morning. most of the sun in my homeland might you see things in your streams gardens on your land. have always made us so happy. from the hilltop you can fit the south the sente and capitalist involved in the palm of his hand moments like this fill him with inspiration face next work.

the republic of south a city alone is in the caucasus in borders russia to the north and georgia to the south the west and east. mountains cover ninety percent of south the city is territory which is more than a thousand meters above sea level. skin vald is its capital the trans coke asian highway which connects russia to georgia and armenia runs through the city. after his morning run artist andre returns to his studio it is crammed with his works he's never been short of creative ideas except for the time his native land became the scene of an armed conflict back then was the last thing on his mind. you know moments where i totally neglected my work during the war because obviously

i was preoccupied with other things my life also changed the violist i thought it was never going to end. an easy relations between georgia and a setia started in the late one nine hundred eighty s. they became aggravated after georgia withdrew from the u.s.s.r. the deputies of the south a city in parliament passed a resolution on state sovereignty in september nine hundred ninety which georgia refused to recognize since then georgia has been seeking unification with the self the setia. on the ninth or from august the seventh to almost the eighth two thousand and eight georgian troops began shelling. the military units were forced to leave the country as a result of the russian peacekeeping operation afterwards russia recognized south

ossetia as an independent state. in august two thousand and eight day of a young daughters spent five days in this basement together with another five hundred people. the residents of skin and underground when the town came under attack just discussed now it seems to me that outside on the street the whole thing is going to start anew of course it's bad memory but in fact it is facing because it helped us to stay alive. to condor was only nine when the war broke out she was frightened but didn't show her fear in order to not upset her mother the neighbor lauer was constantly by the family's side. georgian greatest concern was the georgian soldiers would shoot her first because

of the fact that she was living in a setting. there was no food or water in the basement the underground inhabitants spent several days totally unaware of what was happening above ground and in constant fear for their lives. down the street that they were shooting from this machine. they thought there was an abandoned house here they were sure there was no one there but there were incidents when they threw grenades into the basement. i will never forget the noise the whole time. and then we heard an explosion it never crossed our minds that it was from a missing. girl who. took a pencil and a single sheet of paper into the basement down there she drew sketches of

everything around. well she may join sickly me there in black panther initially as children they only store adult life such only. shows it was done. only shown in from that place so we also let some candles. conda is attending a master class in drawing at an art school in san vall the settee and painted tom a landscape frame of his well known here has invited you conned and other talented youngsters to attend the master class today he's showing the children his own painting it's filled with bullet damage from august two thousand and eight. during the georgian invasion shells and shrapnel destroyed many paintings for levy what if the murals billy's got the blues tortured also brilliant works for ruining

the explosion of our witnesses say that they ended with submachine guns and just riddled the paintings with bullet holes. but today the artist wants his pupils to choose the peaceful same for their drawings. the third girl all that's a great idea to fill the picture with birds of dull desert a rainbow is lots of bright colors. i don't want to remember bad things after the war. so i'm

hopeful and i hope that. thing will be bright and colorful. bright new rooms now dorm houses in post-war involved. they have replaced the old homes that were damaged during the battle but a little to still to be replanted almost every building carries a trace of the conflict. the parliament building downtown was almost completely destroyed. through here this is the middle of the building the second floor. they used to be an organ hole here. it was very badly damaged during the military hostilities and

two thousand eight. hundred years left except for a concrete. was one of a kind of gun has been to send as. severing of rules of the. many residents who were left homeless in two thousand and eight have already moved into new apartments this neighborhood was constructed by moscow billed as. the family of. lives in a new house in the village of to be yet fifteen kilometers from skin. i know house used to stand at this place it was completely destroyed during the war only some timber is. bombs hit the house and tore it's hard to fix. family in a trailer for two years. lived

in this wagon for two years before they built this house forrest says that's where we're live now. here with. a year ago moved into a new two story house. it's hard for me to imagine how to live if they hadn't built a new house for. there is no peace in the village of. lives once upon a time she wouldn't even let her daughter play in the. little favorite place things. before a child will forget. yes

. yes. lis .

lists . you. for many years people in involved were more concerned with survival at a time when they faced a blockade and shelling with peace returned scientists also came back to the city they hope to make lots of discoveries in this land historians call the capital of

south ascent a paradise for archaeologists. but the move to a guardian king gave us down its urban status seventeen hundred years ago that was in the year two hundred sixty five of the. needless to say there are very many underground passages beneath this down. this by syfy and the place was in fact the end fortress. the tops of old fortresses and watch towers rise from behind the mountains in every direction from . the ancestors of modern necessity and settled in these parts in the eighteenth century. it was a must to build fortifications in every village there are about five hundred watchtowers in south to santiago. some of the family that did not have a watchtower was not considered to be a family in the seventeenth to eighteenth century believe that such

a family would vanish sooner or later as a result of internal and external factors such as warsaw and vendettas. this watchtower is located not far from the town. it was built in a gorge nearby they extracted the stones for construction from the local mountains the builders processed the rocks laid them and used egg white as mortar. towers were built and square and pyramids like she. every floor had eight hours of the two for each wall to provide a better view this way they could shoot precisely. our had at least five floors. as well as historians take an interest in the walls of the ancient towers and

monasteries. is a contributor to south the seti is red book of red and endangered animals and will soon be published here on the rocks lizards can be spotted they creep out of the cracks to warm up in the some. yes sure if you must but we're not very many people are so scared of lizards that they panic when they see one popular belief is that lizards will bite you ok watch my fingers all there is no blood on it not even one drop of which it was one of the lizards can bite through my skin. studies the regions phone. the buzzard hovering over the river is a predatory bird normally it feeds on gophers and mice but now it has a different vision mind.

it's a plain freshwater crab but there aren't many of them out here or in few know that we have them. female crabs sometimes have caviar here but these are young ones they most certainly don't have any you know. the setian freshwater crabs are on the verge of extinction because of both predators and people some eat them mate others breed them at home in aquariums. by of believes crabs should definitely be entered into the red book. this is the asian scorpion which is also facing extinction it inhabits a small area near south santee has capital the school population has drastically dropped in recent years because of their mass capture of. oh. i found a pregnant female who is it going to. well i have been there live bearers or when

she gives birth to her young ones they climb on her back to feed their for a while and then they start fending for themselves. during the spring mating period the scorpions poison is especially dangerous mostly pets fall victim to their stings but sometimes even people are attacked. by of suggest establishing a small nature reserve in the school peons habitat it will help protect involves residents and help secure the future of an entire species of risk opium the seventy minute video they lived alongside done a source many years ago most species from that era have since perished about scorpions have survived to this day as you were. told manager of a team p.f. is traveling to the west of south to set here he's been invited by even addressed

to want to participate in ecological tourism. when visitors arrive host ss of one of the homes per past. in south asensio no male can go without them . as it is you could argue sure until you transition a orse a certain prize not from potatoes or the meat and cabbage was not. their field of the cheese and greens see it more than my senator brown is with cabbage but i like that she's a mom to those are no good. for a settee and surprise a mole than just food it is a special dish for celebrations they make a countless number for funerals only to today the hostess is prepared with cheese potatoes and greens. its. cover. oh.

let's put them in. the young lady. while the women make pies the homeowner meets the guests. i go to i haven't seen you for quite a while. i want to know. in the heart of the pollies quickly turn brown then they take them out and bow to them. i need to talk to you. come in come in. how are you doing to summer's almost here it's getting warmer we'll be making hay soon the family is getting ready to make her. bring some one would. have had a line and freshly baked pies

a pair at the table. you never turn up by over when you cut it. and you don't turn it around either. otherwise they say grace will turn away from you at the. thirty kilometers north of. is one of the most beautiful places in the area that i have never been any industrial facilities here there are no paved roads. lists often come here to wander through the alpine tundra looking for rare flowers to use in infusions. and we gather well known plummets like time or go on a. lady's month old. sage and even bilberries. berries and leaves we have a big selection of levels. great

great grandfather used to live here family legend has it that he too was a list he collected plants treated people with infusions and reportedly lived to be one hundred forty years old there has never been any war in the gorge where people collect. the village of a goot on the contrary is right on the border between georgia and south of setia. in the past it used to take the local residents an entire day to cover the fifteen kilometers between their village. the village was in the occupation zone from. two thousand and eight three. days being in a city an enclave surrounded on all saw inspired georgian villages of. the georgian government police and special forces here. people living in.

nowadays and now to be left can have a family business he and his son keep bees. gathering honey. is the young vacation he sells here then. they collect the honey. that's right. and the lady of the house looks after chickens. living in the country in a village life. they

feed the chickens and help their father run the household. so logistical denia can buy a first come to the song called a natural reserve known as the largest reserve in the south caucasus the park's flora includes beech. and oak trees as well as various species of conifer the reserve southern front here borders on an artificial lake. recently a reserve attendant came across an abandoned row cough the starving to death. he took the cow foam and successfully nursed it back to health. where fit in a. kind of milk is it its natural thing. i see it is letting your fingers oh yes she has really gotten used to me. says the cough will

probably have to stay with humans now reared in a pan next to the house it has already become domesticated if it were returned to the wild it might easily fall prey to count of holes. there is a row deer in the smallest species of deer that live in oregon of course. we also have the caspian red area that one of the larger species of the deer family. skin volved. the downtown area is commonly referred to as the jewish quarter and still features some houses the date back several centuries. old at that would do well list house hears from the nineteenth century it was built by jewish merchant in soviet times this was a shop and just before the war this house accommodated a jewish community center though it was very beautiful. but the

streets of the involved archaeologists have discovered numerous times holes which sprawl the length of the city where those underground passages lead is still a mystery. but it still poses one of those tunnels which practically ran all over the city in olden days there used to be a tunnel beneath every house but the maze underground passageways probably stretched as far as a edge of the city and then he had a valid way even across the river and this one here we haven't fully unearthed yet have dug almost ten meters deep and there's still no end in sight who would need to it. but that's going vall. children are painting these young artists who were born during the height of the georgian a certain turmoil only in the past three years have they finally begun living in

peace. destroying features a park with children hanging out implying. the sun is shining. through and i've painted fairly it's just it's cheerful. so nobody is troubled there. everything is bright and colorful. i'm drawing my brother and myself we are all out in our courtyard and still involved playing together but the one i wanted to help write economists get because i do. to c.c. involved you can fast. so i've done a by painting edge like a city to be like paris. to come the spent days hiding in the basements trying to sound from the nato attack on him bob now she paints a city which she would like to see as the most beautiful and peaceful place in the world.

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in the headlines this week. prime minister david cameron turns to experience for help while local communities. to remember the victims of a short. break away republic. people trying to rebuild. the ratings agencies after. school gets that. with a look back at the past week's top stories and the latest developments this is the weekly. this week a split opened up between police and top politicians in britain following.