General Kapandze: Georgian soldiers' heroism must not be used for political purposes

Georgian veterans and former official of the country's defence and security forces have criticised what they describe as the political use of the heroism of Georgian soldiers who fought in the 2008 war, General Vakhtang Kapanadze of the movement Georgia First said on Tuesday.

Kapanadze said members of the movement, including veterans who directly participated in the fighting, considered it wrong to use the soldiers' sacrifice for political purposes.

He accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of portraying the deaths of soldiers from the Second Infantry Brigade's engineering unit and other servicemen, including those killed in the Battle of Shindisi, as the result of a mistake.

"Georgian Dream tells us that our heroes, whom we mourn every August, died fighting their own population," Kapanadze said.

He said the veterans would continue to "fight with the truth" to end the debate over who started the 2008 war.

"The war was started by Russia. Russia is the occupier. Georgian heroes fell fighting for the land where the graves of our ancestors lie," Kapanadze said.

He concluded by praising the Georgian armed forces and those killed in the fighting.

The 18th anniversary of the Battle of Shindisi is being marked on August 11. Seventeen Georgian soldiers from the Second Infantry Brigade were killed in an unequal battle with Russian forces.