South Ossetian separatists indicated their intention to become part of Russia in the “near future”

The president of the separatist region of South Ossetia, Anatoli Bibilov, said on Wednesday that he intends to take legal action in the near future to begin a process of accession to Russia.

“I think that unification with Russia is our strategic objective. Our way. The aspirations of the people and we will move forward along this path,” Bibilov told the press services of United Russia, the party of Russian President Vladimir Putin collects the Interfax agency.

“We will take appropriate legal action in the near future. The Republic of South Ossetia will be part of its historical homeland, Russia,” emphasized the president of this small region for which Georgia and Russia had a brief war in 2008.

“Our people have repeatedly pointed out this goal, we had the opportunity to realize our centuries-old dream in 2014, when Crimea returned to its native port. We missed our chance then, but we can't let this happen again,” he said.

In addition to South Ossetia, Georgia and Russia were also contested in 2008 for the Abkhazia region. Both are considered by the vast majority of States as autonomous republics of Tbilisi.

South Ossetia, predominantly agricultural and with about 80,000 inhabitants, is already heavily integrated into Russia as it uses the ruble, has a Russian military base and receives much of its budget from Moscow. However, Georgia continues to regard it, as does Abkhazia, as occupied territories.

On the other hand, on 10 March, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) requested that that court order the arrest of three people for alleged war crimes during the war between Russia and Georgia in the Georgian separatist territory of South Ossetia, in 2008.

The suspects are Mayramovich Mindzaev, Minister of Internal Affairs in South Ossetia during the war, Gamlet Gushmazo and David Georgiyevich Sanakoev, who also held positions of responsibility in that self-proclaimed republic, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said Thursday in a statement.

The request is based on allegations of “illegal detention, ill-treatment, hostage-taking and the illegal transfer of civilians of Georgian origin, in the context of the occupation by the Russian Federation,” Khan explained.

“I have reasonable grounds to believe that these three individuals are criminally responsible for war crimes committed on the territory of South Ossetia in August 2008,” he added.

It will now be the judges of the Court, based in The Hague (Netherlands), who will decide whether to approve the claims.

With the support of Western powers, then Georgian President Mikhail Sajashvili launched in August 2008 an offensive to regain South Ossetia, a de facto independent territory following a conflict in the midst of the collapse of the Soviet bloc in the early 1990s.

Russia responded by invading a part of Georgia, during a five-day war that left hundreds dead, according to a balance sheet by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The ICC began investigating that war in January 2016, the first time its inquiries studied a conflict with Russian involvement.

The announcement of the ICC prosecutor comes in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, another former Soviet republic. This court announced on 2 March that it would immediately open an investigation into the situation in Ukraine and the possible war crimes committed.

At the end of 2016, Russia withdrew its signature from the Treaty of Rome, a founding agreement of the ICC that, on the other hand, it had never ratified.

(With information from Europa Press)

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