REPORTAGE: Volunteer 'never had the chance to pick up a weapon'

BATAKAYURT, Russia: Murat Dryaev, a dark-haired 29-year-old from this village in southern Russia, was one of hundreds of volunteers who rushed to the breakaway region of South Ossetia last week to fight the attacking Georgian troops.

Yesterday, the builder's lifeless body lay in the parlour of a neighbour's home with a candle and a bottle of cognac at his head, his widow weeping as she held the side of his coffin.

The family said Dryaev was killed by Georgian artillery fire as he approached the attacking forces for the first time on Saturday.

"He never had the chance to pick up a weapon," said his sister, Narisa Dryaev.

Tbilisi educational psychologist Anna Lagidze said: "The main legend of Georgia is Georgians are warriors because they are subject to constant invasion."

A legend going back a thousand years, she explained, is that the men went into battle with grapevines tied around their waists so that if they died, new grapes would spring up where they fell.

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Photo: A South Ossetian separatist fighter looks on at an unknown location in the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. A sudden military offensive by Georgia, a staunch U.S. ally, reportedly killed hundreds of people Friday in the separatist region of South Ossetia and threatened to off a wider war with Russia. The fighting started when Georgia launched an attack to retake a breakaway province, followed by Russia sending in tanks and reportedly attacking two air bases in Georgia. (AP Photo/Musa Sadulayev)

more photos: Caucasus Belli : Guerre Georgie / Ossétie du Sud - Russie (Album)