Gagloeva, Irina Yurievna

Irina Yurievna Gagloeva was born on June 25, 1959. She graduated from Tskhinvali secondary school No. 7, and then entered the history department of Lomonosov Moscow State University . After graduating from Moscow State University, Gagloeva returned to Tskhinvali and worked in the Komsomol, taught at the Ruhs Grammar School and at the South Ossetian State Pedagogical Institute , which was later renamed South Ossetian State University ^[1] .

In 2002, Gagloeva was appointed chairman of the State Committee for Information and Press of South Ossetia ^[2] . In this post, she coordinated the activities of print media, radio stations and television of the unrecognized republic; In addition, Gagloeva regularly voiced in the media the position of the South Ossetian government on various socio-political and economic issues, and also informed the public about the current activities of the government ^{[3] [4]} .

Gagloeva’s work as the coordinator of the South Ossetian media took place during the period of the next aggravation of relations between South Ossetia and Georgia ^[5] . In the summer of 2004, relations between the Georgian and South Ossetian sides were so tightened that in July Gagloeva spoke of "operations to clean our territory from bandits who are in the form of Georgian peacekeepers" ^[6] , and in August stated that "a natural war began in South Ossetia " ^[7] , and even reported on August 19, 2004, Georgian units attempted to assault Tskhinvali ^[8] . Nevertheless, the conflict was resolved in the following months, and in November 2004, South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity and Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania agreed to demilitarize the conflict zone; at the same time, as Gagloeva reported with reference to Kokoity, the Georgian side “recognized responsibility for the events of the summer of 2004” ^{[5] [9] [10]} .

In 2005, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili offered South Ossetia wide autonomy ^[5] , and at the end of the year, the Georgian side put forward a plan that consistently addressed military, economic and political issues related to the conflict ^[11] . But after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov supported this plan, Gagloeva unexpectedly criticized the Russian position, saying: “We are surprised by the position of Moscow, since we are Russian citizens. Lavrov may sign various agreements, but he does not give us a decree. We have our own vision of many problems ” ^[12] . Six months later, in June 2006, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin unexpectedly proclaimed that "Moscow respects the principle of territorial integrity, but notes that South Ossetia’s right to self-determination is no less respected in the world," to which Gagloeva replied: "We always waited for such words from Moscow. Our desire to unite with North Ossetia and to be a part of Russia together is also a form of self-determination of our republic ” ^[13] .

On September 3, 2006, Gagloeva told the media that a Georgian Interior Ministry helicopter was fired by South Ossetian air defense forces, violating the republic’s airspace. After shelling, the helicopter was in fall mode for some time, but was able to land without suffering a serious accident. Subsequently, it turned out that the Minister of Defense of Georgia Irakli Okruashvili was on board the helicopter ^{[3] [4] [14]} .

Since September 2006, Gagloeva actively participated in the preparations for the presidential elections scheduled for November 12 and the referendum, at which the residents of the republic were asked about independence from Georgia and subsequent possible accession to Russia ^{[15] [16] [17]} . On November 12, in the middle of the day, Gagloeva told the media that the referendum and elections had taken place - at that time 64 percent of voters voted, with the required turnout of 50 percent ^[18] . Subsequently, it was also announced that 99 percent of the residents of South Ossetia who voted in favor of the independence of the unrecognized republic from Georgia. Moreover, the turnout was 95.2 percent. For the second time (after 2001), Kokoity was elected the leader of South Ossetia, gaining 96 percent of the vote. The referendum and elections were not recognized by the international community ^{[19] [20]} .

On November 16, the media reported on the assassination attempt on Gagloev. Initially, the authorities of the unrecognized republic claimed that unknown persons threw an explosive packet into the window of the official’s house ^[21] . Subsequently, however, they denied this report, stating that a stone had been thrown at the window, resulting in a woman being injured by shards of glass. With minor injuries, Gagloeva was taken to the hospital ^{[22] [23]} . Representatives of South Ossetia called the incident an act of intimidation from Tbilisi ^[22] , the Georgian authorities - a hooligan trick ^[23] .

In January 2007, in an interview, Gagloeva formulated the shortcomings of the South Ossetian press, noting the lack of systematic constructive criticism in the presence of a certain number of problems and insufficient “intellectual content” of the republic’s media ^[24] . Earlier, in 2005, Gagloeva also recognized the absence of an independent press in South Ossetia ^[3] , and in 2006 she noted the appearance of the first independent newspaper “21 Century” in the republic ^[25] .

During 2006-2008, Gagloeva regularly reported shelling of South Ossetian settlements and sabotage carried out by Georgian forces. In many cases, the Georgian side declared the reports Gagloeva misinformation and provocation ^{[4] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30]} . For her part, Gagloeva also evaluated many reports received from the Georgian side and transmitted by the Western press as misinformation ^{[31] [32]} . At the same time, she spoke negatively about the position of Western states regarding the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, calling this position in February 2008 “the protection of the integrity of genocidal states” ^[33] .

In August 2008, relations between the Georgian and South Ossetian sides again aggravated. On August 6 and 7, after several days of shelling of South Ossetian territory by Georgian troops, Gagloeva reported a battle during which South Ossetian units ousted Georgian formations from one of the heights near Tskhinvali ^{[34] [35] [36]} . On the morning of August 8, Gagloeva announced the start of the assault on Tskhinvali by Georgian units ^[37] and blamed the spilled blood on the regime of Saakashvili and the countries that armed this regime ^[38] . In response to the actions of the Georgian side, Russia sent troops to South Ossetia ^[39] , which on August 10 freed Tskhinvali from the Georgian army and then occupied separate settlements in northern Georgia for some time ^[40] . One of the results of the conflict in South Ossetia was the recognition of its independence by Russia on August 26, 2008 ^[41] .

On the morning of August 9, 2008, Gagloeva reported that by this time the death toll in Tskhinvali was about 1,600 people ^[42] , and on August 20 she said that 1,492 people had died during the Georgian attack on South Ossetia in Tskhinvali and its suburbs ^{[43] [ 44]} , ^[45] . Subsequently, the Investigative Committee at the prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation admitted that as a result of Georgian actions in South Ossetia 162 people were killed ^{[45] [46]} . On August 11, Gagloeva also said that during the hostilities the Georgian army blew up thirty women and children in one of the Orthodox churches ^[47] , however, an investigation of this incident by human rights activists in October of that year did not confirm Gagloeva’s information ^[48] .

On October 31, 2008, President Kokoity signed a decree that changed the structure of the government of South Ossetia. In accordance with this decree, in particular, the State Committee for Information and Press was transformed into the Ministry of Press and Mass Communications, the head of which was Gagloeva ^{[49] [50]} . In November of the same year, she also joined the presidium of the government of South Ossetia created by Kokoity ^[51] .

In the spring and summer of 2009, the probability of Gagloeva’s resignation was discussed in South Ossetia, which stated that she did not see “anything extraordinary” in this ^[2] .

In August 2009, the Kokoity’s order to reorganize the government of South Ossetia abolished the Ministry of Press and Mass Communications, and transferred its functions and functions of several other departments to the Ministry of Economic Development ^[52] and the State Committee for Information, Communications and Mass Communications of South Ossetia, chaired by Georgy Kabisov ^[53] .

In September 2009, Gagloeva announced the intention of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to launch a joint information project with an “emphasis on Western countries” ^[54] .

In March 2010, the Ir Media Center was created in the republic, and Gagloeva became its chairman. The goal of the new project was to “draw more attention to South Ossetia, internal processes, the culture of the republic, strengthen the links between the information resources of the Russian Federation and South Ossetia, and direct common opportunities to create a positive and objective image of the republic” ^{[55] [56]} .

Gagloeva was awarded the medal of the Russian Federation "For peace enforcement" ^[57] . In an interview, Gagloeva stated that she does not have her own family ^[58] .

• When writing this article, we used material ( text in Wikisource ) from Lentapedia , available under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 Unported license .