Siege

The film tells about the blockade of Tskhinvali in 1991 during the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict. 1 part. North Ossetia, Vladikavkaz. A group of schoolchildren in the park. Women with children are on the sidewalk. Street trade in paintings. The artist, passers-by on the street say that there is not enough information about the conflicts in South Ossetia (sinhr.). A street photographer is reading a newspaper. South Ossetia. The bus driver tunes the radio. View of one of the sections of the mountain road from Vladikavkaz to Tskhinvali. The servicemen are standing near the building. A soldier with a machine gun sits on the roof of a building. Servicemen inspect a passenger car at a checkpoint. The car enters the tunnel. Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin and his entourage at the airport during his arrival at the meeting with the chairman of the Georgian Armed Forces Z.K. Gamsakhurdia. Georgia, pos. Kazbegi. Boris Yeltsin, ZK Gamsakhurdia at a press conference dedicated to the results of their meeting on March 23, 1991. Journalists and photojournalists in the hall. ZK Gamsakhurdia answers journalists' questions (sinhr.). South Ossetia. Travel along a mountain road. Refugees from Tskhinvali and from neighboring villages are queuing up to board a regular bus. Children get on the bus. The men are pushing the bus. A woman who came to Tskhinvali from Riga for her brother's funeral, a surgeon from Vladikavkaz, whose brother died of a gunshot wound, say that one can get to the besieged city only along a mountain path (sinhr.). Road sign of the village of Itrapis, near which the militants blew up the road. Road block on the highway. Men and youths with backpacks are walking along a mountain path, along which they carry food to people who remain in the besieged city. The young man supports the man walking along the path. The man says that this road is difficult for young people (sinhr.). A woman and a girl are resting after overcoming a mountain pass. The woman says that in Tskhinvali there is no water, no electricity, no bread, it is cold in the apartments (sinhr). Men with backpacks climb a snow-covered mountain path. There are backpacks, bags, guns in the snow. The woman says that she walked along the pass with her two sons for about five hours (sinhr.). A group of men near a stream in the mountains. View of Tskhinvali after shelling by Georgian militants. An ancient building with burnt walls and broken windows. A sandbag barricade in the courtyard of a residential building. Dilapidated residential buildings. Destroyed kitchen wall in the house. Sandbags in the windows of the office building. Headless sculpture of a man. The destroyed workshop in the building of the State Drama Theater named after Kosta Khetagurov. Torn portrait of Kosta Khetagurov. The theater actress says that all theatrical attributes, costumes were destroyed, all video and sound equipment were broken, everything of value was taken away (sync.). Torn suits are lying on the floor in the dressing room. Papers and equipment are strewn across the floor. Empty bottles on the piano. Bottles, leftover food, a German officer's uniform on the table. Men are building barricades on a city street, unloading a truck with sandbags in the back. Snowing. A barricade of bags on the street. A crane transports a concrete block. Men are building a barricade of concrete blocks. The decapitated pedestals of the Heroes of the Soviet Union. A plate with the inscription: "Hero of the Soviet Union Chochiev V.S." The busts of the Heroes of the Soviet Union lie on the ground. The funeral of the victims. People are standing under umbrellas. Relatives at the coffin with the body of the deceased. Flag with a mourning ribbon. Graves in the courtyard of the city school. View of the cemetery in the courtyard of the Nursing Home. The doctor says that during the blockade, 26 people died who could not stand the cold (sinhr.). Coffins in the yard. The bodies of deceased people lie on stretchers in the room. Elderly people are sitting in their coats in the ward, warming themselves near the stove. Part 2. North Ossetia. Funeral rally in memory of the perished residents of South Ossetia in Vladikavkaz. Participants in the rally stand on the square with placards and banners. On the banner there is an inscription: "Our strength is in unity!" The priest speaks at the microphone. The woman is crying. A young man and a woman light candles. Faces of women. Banners with mourning ribbons. South Ossetia. A convoy of trucks with medicines and food for the residents of Tskhinval is moving along the road. Broken glass in the cab of a truck that was shelled on the way. Men in the square near the trucks. Banner with the inscription: Thank you, deputies of the RSFSR for your concrete step. " The men in the square are listening to a military man who speaks very emotionally. A group of men with machine guns departs. The servicemen get into the helicopter. View of the destroyed villages from a helicopter. Pillars on the site of the burned down house. The man says that this is a planned genocide (sinhr.). North Ossetia. Numerous meeting. Banner with the inscription: "Elijah II - Catalicos or Satan?" People's Artist of the RSFSR B.Z. Vataev speaks at a rally with an appeal to the Georgian intelligentsia (behind the scenes, synchronously). South Ossetia. Ruined houses. Scattered items in the garage. The military are standing near the armored personnel carrier. The soldier is leading the girl. A man carries an elderly woman in his arms. The military is unloading bed linen and mattresses. An elderly woman, a boy, a young woman are crying. Men carry the body of the murdered man on a stretcher. BN Yeltsin talks to people on the street, says that in the evening he will meet with ZK Gamsakhurdia (sinhr.). Georgia, pos. Kazbegi. Boris N. Yeltsin and Z. K. Gamsakhurdia speak at a press conference (sinhr.). Journalists, press photographers in the hall. South Ossetia. Passengers leave the helicopter; one of the passengers is walking on crutches. Elderly people lie on their beds in the ward of the Home for the elderly. A nurse treats pressure sores on an elderly woman's body. Elderly people in the hallway. People under umbrellas stand in the square during the funeral. An elderly man in the ashes. Coffins. Torn portrait of K. Khetagurov. The boys run over the sandbags on the barricade. Bullet marks in the window glass. A stand with photographs of victims of the genocide. Concrete block barricade on the bridge. Hands loading a pistol.

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sound engineer R. Tuaev, editor V. Karev, director I. Belokopytova