ロシア軍基地に派遣されていた南オセチア兵300人が戦線離脱して帰国したお話に関するその背景事情の解説

Alik Puhati @rajdianos

Today, about 300 soldiers (mostly ethnic Ossetians) from the Russian military base returned to South Ossetia of their own free will, because they thought they had been left for dead during a special operation in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/D8iN1VolrU

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Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

Alik’s publication (twitter.com/rajdianos/stat…) requires a background deep dive. Here is what I have to say about South Ossetian soldiers’ voluntary refusal to partake in the warfare in Ukraine.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

1. Many Ossetians seek revenge against Ukraine for its de-facto political and military support of Georgia when the latter conducted genocide and repression of non-Georgian ethnic groups of former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

1.1 What certainly stands out in that regard is the participation of UNA-UNSO in the war against South Ossetia back in 2008.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

2. South Ossetia had its own army back in the days but it was demolished by president Bibilov – a loyal puppet to Kremlin’s then eminense grise Vladislav Surkov.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

2.1 Mr. Bibilov forced the merger of Ossetian military personnel into Russian army, and oppressed, utilizing Mr. Surkov’s immense influence, all his political rivals who were not in favor of such a decision.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

3. South Ossetian soldiers ended up in Ukraine as integral part of the Russian army. Again, this is due to president Bibilov’s decision some time ago.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

3.1 The very fact of sending hundreds of Ossetians to Ukraine sparked the flames of discontent in South Ossetia as the country has literally lost most of its soldiers for the time being and become completely vulnerable to Georgia.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

4. There was no rapport between Ossetian soldiers and Russian commanders from the get-go, as the former didn’t buy into the latter’s strategy and tactics in the territory they were fighting in.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

4.1 Ossetians were expected to carelessly attack well defended Ukrainian positions in the kamikaze style, without any well thought thru strategy. This would have led to immense losses. At some point Ossetian soldiers just ignored orders and started fighting their own way.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

5. As the outcome of such a rebellious and independent demeanor, major incident followed: a refusal to supply ammunition and maps to the Ossetian unit.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

5.1 This triggered Ossetians to come up with a tense theory: “They want to have as many people from Caucasus slaughtered in this senseless bloodbath as possible”. (Interestingly enough, there is a disproportionate number of casualties from Dagestan and North Ossetia per capita).

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

6. And then there was the final incident that almost ended at the gunpoint. One of the commanders prohibited Ossetian soldiers to retrieve their dead comrade’s body from the battlefield. This ignited a real unrest.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

6.1 Soldiers tried to explain that according to Ossetian tradition the body had to be delivered to the family, but the commander suggested sending in an empty coffin. The response was fierce: we are going to put you in that coffin and ship to Ossetia in case you try to stop us.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

7. The commander immediately called in a group of loyal Russian soldiers for his protection. Thus, all the hierarchical ties in the unit were destroyed.

Rooslán Totrov @RooslanTotrov

7.1 Ossetian soldiers refused to obey the Russians’ orders and went home immediately. They also issued a warning of shooting anyone who would try to stop them. The group reached South Ossetia in a seamless fashion accompanied by police convoys.

Alik Puhati @rajdianos

Returned soldiers on the border of Russia and South Ossetia. They hitchhiked home. pic.twitter.com/gISBRqwXZ9

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祥子@⚡ 🐝🏴‍☠️ @SachikoLibra

南オセチア共和国はロシアに政治的にも軍事的にも経済的にも大きく依存しており、住民の多くを占めるオセット人は過去にジョージア人からの激しい弾圧を受けてきました。(日本政府はこれを承認しておらず、日本では地域と称することになると思います)

祥子@⚡ 🐝🏴‍☠️ @SachikoLibra

南オセチアのビビロフ大統領はロシアとの（個人的なものも含めた）関係から特殊作戦のため兵員を送り出しました。 しかしオセチアの兵士は独自にジョージア人と戦ってきたためロシア人指揮官との間に深い関係があるわけではありません。

祥子@⚡ 🐝🏴‍☠️ @SachikoLibra

ロシア人指揮官が南オセチア兵を戦略的な考えもなく神風特攻隊のようにウクライナ軍陣地への攻撃に投入していたため、命令を無視し独自に行動するようになりましたがその結果、ロシア軍は彼らへの弾薬などの補給を行わなくなりました。

祥子@⚡ 🐝🏴‍☠️ @SachikoLibra

もともと自分たちが南オセチアを離れることでジョージアに対して無防備になることを不満に感じていた上に司令官が戦死した同胞の遺体を回収することを禁止したことで不満が爆発。 司令官に銃を突きつけ帰国するに至りました。