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I never heard of South Ossetia


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I bet Russians hasn't heard of Cole county either. 

 

Breakaway region means a state that took let's go brandon to the next level without a civil war

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Russia is the 2nd largest exporter of arms in the world.  India is its biggest customer.  I wonder how countries view their arms purchases after reading such reports.

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30 minutes ago, Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971 said:

Russia is the 2nd largest exporter of arms in the world.  India is its biggest customer.  I wonder how countries view their arms purchases after reading such reports.

It’s all about maintenance, training, and leadership. These basics seem to be missing in the Russian military.

The Ukrainians seem to be doing fine with Russian arms.

The Indian army is also better at it. Mostly I suspect because their military heritage and training was initially British. 

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23 minutes ago, Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 said:

I really hope that first post is true.

It was on Rueters as well.

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It makes me question all those training videos the army showed us of Russian troops running thru burning fields and buildings and spending 2 weeks in a chemical contaminated environment .  They were meant to scare us into training harder, but I wonder how good they really were back then.  

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1 hour ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

I don't get too optimistic about it. There are many historical instances of troops and tactics being a shambles-- until the force gets its act together under the pressure of experience.

True. They still have significant assets.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Ossetia

 

officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania,[5][6] is a breakaway state in the South Caucasus.[7] It has an officially stated population of just over 53,000 people, who live in an area of 3,900 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi), on the south side of the Greater Caucasus mountain range, with 30,000 living in the capital city, Tskhinvali. The five countries of Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria recognise South Ossetia as a sovereign state.[8] While Georgia does not control South Ossetia, the Georgian government and the United Nations consider the territory part of Georgia, whose constitution designates the area as "the former autonomous district of South Ossetia", in reference to the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast disbanded in 1990.[9]

Georgia does not recognise the existence of South Ossetia as a political entity, and the territory comprising South Ossetia does not correspond to any Georgian administrative area (although Georgian authorities have set up the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia as a transitional measure leading to the settlement of South Ossetia's status), with most of the territory including the Shida Kartli region. When neutral language is deemed necessary, both Georgia and international organisations often refer to the area informally as the Tskhinvali region.[n 2]

The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast, established by Soviet authorities in 1922, declared independence from the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991. The Georgian government responded by abolishing South Ossetia's autonomy and trying to re-establish its control over the region by force.[10] The escalating crisis led to the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War.[11] Georgians have fought against those controlling South Ossetia on two other occasions: in 2004 and in 2008.[12] The latter conflict led to the Russo-Georgian War of August 2008, during which Ossetian and Russian forces gained full de facto control of the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast. In the wake of the 2008 war, Georgia and a significant part of the international community regard South Ossetia as occupied by the Russian military.

South Ossetia relies heavily on military, political and financial aid from Russia.[13][14] Since 2008, the South Ossetian government has expressed their intention of joining the Russian Federation, mainly because North Ossetia already is a part of Russia; if successful, this would end its proclaimed independence. In 2016, a referendum on such a step was proposed during an election campaign, but was put on hold indefinitely.[15] On 30 March 2022, President Anatoly Bibilov announced his intention to begin legal proceedings in the near future.[16]

 

 

 

The Ossetians are believed to originate from the Alans, a nomadic Iranian tribe.[17] In the 8th century a consolidated Alan kingdom, referred to in sources of the period as Alania, emerged in the northern Caucasus Mountains. Around 1239–1277 Alania fell to the Mongol and later to the Timur's armies, that massacred much of the Alanian population. The survivors among the Alans retreated into the mountains of the central Caucasus and gradually started migration to the south, across the Caucasus Mountains into the Kingdom of Georgia.[18][20].

220px-Map_Caucasus_War_%281809-1817%29_b
 
Historical Russian map of the Caucasus region at the beginning of the 19th century

In the 17th century, by pressure of Kabardian princes, Ossetians started a second wave of migration from the North Caucasus to the Kingdom of Kartli.[21] Ossetian peasants, who were migrating to the mountainous areas of the South Caucasus, often settled in the lands of Georgian feudal lords.[22] The Georgian King of the Kingdom of Kartli permitted Ossetians to immigrate.[23] According to Russian ambassador to Georgia Mikhail Tatishchev, at the beginning of the 17th century there was already a small group of Ossetians living near the headwaters of the Greater Liakhvi River.[23][24] In the 1770s there were more Ossetians living in Kartli than ever before.

220px-Ossetian_expansion.svg.png
 
Ossetian migration over time

This period has been documented in the travel diaries of Johann Anton Güldenstädt who visited Georgia in 1772. The Baltic German explorer called modern North Ossetia simply Ossetia, while he wrote that Kartli (the areas of modern-day South Ossetia) was populated by Georgians and the mountainous areas were populated by both Georgians and Ossetians.[25] Güldenstädt also wrote that the northernmost border of Kartli is the Major Caucasus Ridge.[26][27][28] By the end of 18th century, the ultimate sites of Ossetian settlement on the territory of modern South Ossetia were in Kudaro (Jejora river estuary), Greater Liakhvi gorge, the gorge of Little Liakhvi, Ksani River gorge, Guda (Tetri Aragvi estuary) and Truso (Terek estuary).[29]

The Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, including the territory of modern South Ossetia, was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1801. Ossetia, the area comprising modern North Ossetia, was among the first areas of the North Caucasus to come under Russian domination, starting in 1774.[30] The capital, Vladikavkaz, was the first Russian military outpost in the region.[31] By 1806, Ossetia was completely under Russian control. Ossetian migration to Georgian areas continued in the 19th and 20th centuries, when Georgia was part of the Russian Empire and Ossetian settlements emerged in Trialeti, Borjomi, Bakuriani and Kakheti as well.[29]

The Ossetians kept fighting against Russian Empire and never admitted Russian authorities above them.[disputed (for: Heroic storytelling, but needs source backup)   discuss] In 1850 when Georgia was fully under the control of Russian Empire, Georgian powerful family Machabeli complained to Russian authorities about not being able to seize control over mountain gorges where the Ossetian populations lived.[disputed (for: Claim cannot be found in given reference)   discuss] Here is what Russian officials, collegiate assessors Yanovsky and Kozachkovsky, wrote in 1831 about the relationship between Georgian feudal lords and the Ossetian population of mountain gorges in their “Notes on Ossetian gorges appropriated by the princes Eristov-Ksani”: “... in more distant gorges, such as: Magrandoletsky, Tliysky, Chipransky, Gvidisk, Knogsky and others, for which the Eristavi's declare a claim, there are no traces of their control. Before being conquered by our troops, the Ossetians living in these gorges were a model of primitive peoples. In the villages and gorges there was absolutely no order and obedience. Everyone who was able to carry weapons considered himself completely independent. The example of the Eristavi's gave rise to the princes of Machabeli to appropriate the newly conquered Ossetians living along the Bolshaya Liakhva, in the gorges of Roksky, Jomaksky, Urschuarsky, who never obeyed and did not belong to them."[32]

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Yeah. Google was my first reaction. Then I went down the rabbit hole. :D

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