Two journalists lost in Georgian military conflict

Today, Gennady Dzyuba, President of the Association of Military Press of the Moscow Union of Journalists, has presented generalized data, according to which two journalists were lost also seven more wounded in the warfare in South Ossetia.

According to the Union of Journalists, the casualties were photographer Alexander Klimchuk, who worked with the "Caucasian Images" Agency for the RIA "Novosti" and ITAR-TASS, and Grigol Chikhladze, correspondent of the "Russian Newsweek" magazine. Alexander Sladkov, cameraman Leonid Losev and video director Igor Uklein ("Russia" TV Channel), Alexander Korts ("Komsomolskaya Pravda" newspaper), Leonid Kanfer and Victor Mozolevskiy (REN-TV Channel), and Peter Gassiev (cameraman and producer of the North-Caucasian NTV bureau) were wounded, as the RBC reports.

We remind you that Taimuraz Kikuradze and American journalist Winston Federly, who were wounded by South Ossetian civil guardsmen, were in one group with Klimchuk and Chikhladze. It is also reported that Turkish journalists - Resep Ozturk and Guray Irvin Sekints - were also wounded in bombardment in the vicinity of Tskhinvali.

It has also become known today that Russian Army Major Denis Vetchinov, who saved journalists in South Ossetia, was posthumously awarded the Hero of Russia title. According to the "Echo Moskvy" Radio, the respective decree was signed by President Medvedev.

At the same time, it is reported that the Russian militaries who stay in the Samegrelo District in Western Georgia detained two journalists. According to preliminary data, soldiers have detained Lasha Berulava, a correspondent of the Zugdidi-based "Imedi" Radio Station, and Murad Partsvaniya, cameraman of the local TV Company named "Odishi"; the detainees are kept at the Georgian military base in the city of Senaki. By this time, the communication with the journalists is interrupted, the "Gazeta.Ru" reports.

It was reported earlier that on August 14 Tamara Urushadze, correspondent of the Georgian Public Television, was wounded at the entrance to this city by an unknown sniper, when she was reporting live on air.

At the entrance to the city of Gori, several incidents with journalists also happened. In particular, a militant dressed in military uniform threatened the journalist of the "Rustavi-2" TV Company with a pistol.

The "Haaretz" edition reports that four Israeli journalists were roughly treated by Russian militaries at the check point in Gori. According to the journalists, soldiers opened fire on them without any warning. Then, they were deprived of their car, which, however, was returned later.

According to the "Rosbalt", Turkish and Czech journalists were also plundered in Gori. One of the victims has informed Georgian TV Companies that they were attacked by four men armed with "Kalashnikovs".