Heroes of Russia and the crew of the film Август. Восьмого (August the Eighth) paid tribute to the soldiers and civilians killed in South Ossetia three years ago by floating hundreds of candles on the water at Patriarch’s Ponds in Moscow.
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Dzanik Faiziev, the director of August the Eighth, told the assemblage about his movie, which is a love story set against the backdrop of the tragic events of August 2008. At the same time, people floated candles, symbolising the “souls of those who won’t return”, on Patriarch’s Ponds. In addition, a monument was unveiled honouring Hero of Russia Major Denis Vetchinov, who died defending a convoy with journalists going to Tskhinvali.
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Actor Gosha Kutsenko, one of the cast of August the Eighth, told the crowd that as soon as he heard about the war in South Ossetia, he stopped filming, bought a ticket, and rushed to Vladikavkaz, where he spent several days listening to the stories of wounded soldiers and local residents.
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The participants launched 387 candles onto the pond… one for each person killed in South Ossetia. By the end, the ceremony had increased a bit… there were almost as many people present as there were journalists with cameras {that’s nothing to sneeze at, these days: editor}.
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According to the Head Office of the Moscow City MVD, about thirty people were active participants in the action.
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On the night of 8 August 2008, Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia and destroyed part of its capital, Tskhinvali. In the image above, TV presenter Angelina Vovk and singer Aleksei Vorobyov take part in the memorial ceremony.
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During the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, Russia sent troops to South Ossetia to defend the republic’s residents, many of whom were Russian citizens, and, after five days of fighting drove Georgian troops from the region. In the image above, people float candles at Patriarch’s Ponds in Moscow during the memorial ceremony.
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8 August 2011
RIA-Novosti
Voices From Russia, Too 
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