Joint Staff: 2100 peaceful residents lost in the war in South Ossetia

According to the authorities of South Ossetia, 2100 peaceful citizens fell victims of the warfare, General-Colonel Anatoly Nogovitsyn, Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff of Russian Armed Forces, said today in a press conference.

"We don't count losses among peaceful population, but according to the South-Ossetian Ministry of Internal Affairs... 2100 persons fell victims of the conflict," said the General.

He has emphasized that losses among Russian militaries remain the same - 64 casualties and over 370 wounded, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

According to Anatoly Nogovitsyn, Russian troops were completely withdrawn behind the first line of peacekeeping posts of South Ossetia by 8:30 p.m. Moscow time on Friday.

"After 8:30 p.m. all the roads were unblocked, all the blocks removed, and normal traffic resumed," Mr Nogovitsyn said.

In the meantime, all the refugees from South Ossetia who were temporarily accommodated at recreation camps of the Rostov Region plan to return home before September 1, as the spokesman from the press service of the central administration of the Ministry for Emergencies for the Rostov Region said today. A total of 786 persons had been evacuated to the Region and placed in the Azov District.

According to the South Regional Centre of Russian Ministry for Emergencies, in total within August 19-23, 1598 persons, including 531 children, left the temporary accommodation centres deployed in the South Federal District (SFD) for South Ossetia.