Putin signs bill to integrate Armed Forces of self-proclaimed South Ossetia into Russian army
Separate subdivisions of the armed forces of the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia were integrated into the army of the Russian Federation. The bill was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the press service of the Kremlin reported.
The bill provides for the procedure for “the entry of separate units of the armed forces of the Republic of South Ossetia into the armed forces of the Russian Federation.”
The bill concerning the Ossetian army joining the Russian Armed Forces was signed in March 2017. The duration of the agreement is 25 years, and automatic extension of the bill is provided for in the bill itself.
In 2008 the ethnic region of Georgia, South Ossetia, was completely taken out of control of Georgia. This was accomplished with the support and armed intervention of Russia.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia condemned the bill of the State Duma of Russia concerning the military agreement between the occupied Tskhinvali region and the Russian Federation. The bill was ratified on January 24, 2018. “The ratification of the bill, which opens the way for the illegal armed forces of the occupied Tskhinvali region to join the Armed Forces of Russia, is another illegal action by the Russian Federation aimed at the actual annexation of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, which in turn shows a complete disregard for the fundamental norms and principles international bill,” the Foreign Ministry of Georgia said.