The Ministry of Defense of South Ossetia (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Министерства обороны Южной Осетии, МО РЮО) is a government agency of the partially recognized

Republic of South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with partial diplomatic recognition. It has an officially stated population of just over 56,500 people (2022) ...

. It is the executive body in implementing defense policies in of the

Armed Forces of South Ossetia The Armed Forces of South Ossetia is the military of the partially recognised state of South Ossetia. It includes an Army and an Air Corps. The South Ossetian Army was formed in 1992, and is the primary defense force in the breakaway republic of ...

. The current Minister of Defense is Colonel Inal Sabanov.

History

On 17 November 1992, the Supreme Soviet of South Ossetia approved the decision "On the formation the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of South Ossetia". In January 1993, the organizational structure of the ministry was approved by the government. The first combat units of the national armed forces were formed in February 1993. The first appointed Minister of Defence was Valeriy Khubulov. The first units in the MoD was the

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

Unit and the Artillery Division. In February 2018, festive events dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Ministry of Defense. Events were held from 20 to

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on 23 February and featured tactical drills as well as a wreath-laying ceremony at memorial monuments. An Abkhaz delegation was led by First Deputy Defense Minister Beslan Tsvizhba. Delegations were also from

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and the

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List of ministers

The Minister of Defense is the executive minister responsible for the management of the ministry as well as the armed forces. The following is a list of ministers of defence of South Ossetia from 1993 – present: *

Valeriy Hubulov Valeriy Nikolaevich Khubulov (; Ossetian: Хуыбылты Никъалайы фырт Валерий; 6 November 1966 – 31 May 1998) was a South Ossetian politician, who was minister of defense and acting prime minister in 1996. He was assassi ...

(1993 – 1996) * Bala Bestauty (2001 – 2002) * Zelim Muldarov (2002 – June 2003) * Bala Bestauty (June – September 2003) * Lieutenant General Anatoly Barankevich (2004 – 2006) * Oleg Ivannikov (2006 – 2008) * Major General Vasily Lunev (February 2008 – 2010) * Yuri Tanayev (2010) * Lieutenant General Ibrahim Gazseev (2016 – 2022) * Colonel Viktor Fedorov (2022, acting) * Lieutenant-Colonel Vladimir Pukhaev (2022) * Major-General Marat Pavlov (August 2022 – ?) * Colonel Inal Sabanov (? - present)

MoD structure

Units

The MoD maintains multiple units such as a Special Forces battalion, a training company, an infantry battalion, and a motorized rifle battalion.

Special Forces Battalion

The Special Forces Battalion named after Zelim Muldarov is part of the MoD. As an elite unit, it often takes part in live exercises to ensure its combat readiness. It participated in the

Russo-Georgian War The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

of 2008. The unit celebrated its professional holiday, the Day of the Military Intelligence Officer, on 5 November.

Training Company

The training company is a unit that was established in June 2016 and consists of conscripts. It is divided into infantry, artillery and reconnaissance platoons. Its personnel train in physical, tactical, medical, and public training among other disciplines.

Honour Guard

The

Honour Guard A guard of honour (Commonwealth English), honor guard (American English) or ceremonial guard, is a group of people, typically drawn from the military, appointed to perform ceremonial duties – for example, to receive or guard a head of state ...

Company is the ceremonial unit of the armed forces. Its uniform is similar to that of the

154th Preobrazhensky Independent Commandant's Regiment 154th Preobrazhensky Independent Commandant's Regiment serves as the official honor guard regiment of the Russian Armed Forces and serves as the main honor guard unit of the armed forces, stationed in Moscow. Aside from being the honor guard ...

in the

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. It also has a

full dress uniform Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is among the most formal wear, formal type of uniform used by military, police, firefighter, fire and other public uniformed services for official parade (mili ...

that is based on the clothing of the

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. Despite its ceremonial nature, it can also participate in military drills to ensure its combat readiness. The unit conducted a drill performance during the 2019

Republic Day parade The Delhi Republic Day parade is the largest and most important of the parades marking the Republic Day celebrations in India. The parade takes place every year on 26 January at Kartavya Path, New Delhi. It is the main attraction of India's R ...

for the first time.

Brass Band

The

Brass Band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

of the Ministry of Defense is the only

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

in the armed forces. It was formed in 1996 and is currently led by Alexander Gabaraev. Its repertoire includes Ossetia, Russian and Soviet military tunes. In April 2016, the band began recruiting musicians and increasing its instrumentation in a planned expansion of the band. It is currently attached to the motorized rifle battalion.

Cadet Corps

The cadet corps was created on 28 April 2011 by resolution of the government of South Ossetia, on the initiative of the defense ministry. It is on par with the

Suvorov Military School The Suvorov Military Schools () are a type of boarding school in the former Soviet Union and in modern Russia and Belarus for boys of 10–17. Education in these schools focuses on military related subjects. The schools are named after Alexander ...

s in

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and

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

. Graduates of the school are given an acceleration when joining the regular army and can even go on to enroll in military/civilian universities in

. In June 2014, director Arthur Tadtaev of the cadet corps announced the incorporation of pupils from the 8th grade to the 10th grade.

MoD Military Townlet

In 2021, the a ceremony opening of the Memorial Complex "Military Glory" in memory of the first Minister of Defense Valery Khubulov took place. A capsule with a message was installed at the base of the Memorial Complex and is planned to be opened on the day of the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Ministry of Defense on November 17, 2042.

Awards

The ministry has the authority to give 4 military awards: *Medal "For Military Merit" – Honors members of the Armed Forces of the Republic of South Ossetia, as well as citizens of South Ossetia and foreign countries. *Medal "For Combat Commonwealth" – Honors people who merits have strengthened military cooperation. *Medal "For Military Valour" – Honors soldiers who showed courage in the line of duty. *Medal "Khubulov" – It honors those who actions contributed to the safety of the country. It is named after Valery Khubulov.

References

{{Reflist Military of South Ossetia

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

Ministries established in 1993