Soldiers Suffering from Radioactive Exposure Request Elementary Attention from the State

Mariam Khurtsidze

"After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgian military units were spontaneously deployed to the military bases abandoned by Russian soldiers in Georgian territories without having examined the bases thoroughly. Later, levels of radiation were discovered in several military units. In the 1990’s, eleven soldiers received radiation burns in one of the military units and now they are requesting attention from the government.

Eleven soldiers received radiation burns at the Lilo training center, which initially subordinated to the Defense Ministry and then to the Border Defense Department. The source of radiation was Cesium capsule discovered by soldier Pavle Eliauri in the base. The investigation showed that about 16 similar capsules were scattered in the territory of the military base.

Pavle Eliauri said administration of the military base initially tried to hide the incident but then after the health conditions of the victims worsened the journalists also learned about the accident. As a result, the government of Georgia had to pay particular attention to the case of the soldiers.

Seven soldiers were sent to German and four to French medical centers for treatment. There, several expensive operations were made on the soldiers.

Zurab Balamtsarashvili is one of those soldiers who received radioactive burns in 1997. At that moment he was serving his compulsory military service in the area of Didi Lilo. Suddenly, ulcers were found on the skins of eleven soldiers and administration placed them in military hospital. The doctors could not give correct diagnoses for seven months. Finally, they concluded that the soldiers suffered from radioactive exposure.

14 years have passed since then. There is no doctor in Georgia who can properly treat the soldiers. They do not receive any allowance from the state except single allowance which is enough only for analysis and doctor’s consultations.

10 operations have been made on Zurab Balamtsarashvili abroad. However, he cannot get any aid in Georgia. Once, his health conditions worsened so much that doctors intended to amputate his leg but fortunately he survived. Nevertheless, he still needs permanent treatment, analysis and medicines.

Initially, Zurab Balamtsarashvili received status of the second group disabled person. Since 2009 he has been disabled person of the first group. When he applies to any clinic in Georgia, doctors get confused as soon as they learn about radiation. Doctors do not know how to treat him. Georgia does not have specialists in this field!

Before 2004, the soldiers held status of military veterans and received some allowances. However, the authority abolished all allowances for veterans in 2004.

The soldiers appealed to the Court and requested reimbursement of their damage. They sued four ministries and won the court. According to the judgment, the state had to pay over 4 million GEL to 11 soldiers but only one third of the abovementioned sum was allocated so far. The money was very useful for them but they need permanent treatment that is expensive.

Since 2008 Zurab Balamtsarashvili has been requesting assistance from the Healthcare Ministry but nobody pays attention to him. The soldier does not request money though he needs operation. He urges the Parliament of Georgia to raise question of people suffering from radiation exposure and create corresponding legislation for the healthcare and protection of social lives of similar people. The soldier also requests to re-grant medical policies to them. Finally, Zurab Balamtsarashvili requests elementary attention and proper treatment from the state.