This material is part of a partnership with OC Media. You can read the original in English here. Two employees of the South Ossetian Ministry of Defense were detained after attacking police officers following a traffic accident. The incident occurred on the evening of 10 May in Tskhinvali. According to the investigation, two unnamed South Ossetian citizens born in 2004 and 2005, who were under the influence of alcohol, were involved in a traffic accident on Geroev Street. Upon the arrival of an investigative team from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a conflict broke out between the drivers and law enforcement officers, which escalated into a fight, the Military Prosecutor’s Office reported. Preliminary information indicates that the conflict was linked to attempts by the participants of the incident […]
This material is part of a partnership with OC Media. You can read the original in English here.
Two employees of the South Ossetian Ministry of Defense were detained after attacking police officers following a traffic accident. The incident occurred on the evening of 10 May in Tskhinvali.
According to the investigation, two unnamed South Ossetian citizens born in 2004 and 2005, who were under the influence of alcohol, were involved in a traffic accident on Geroev Street. Upon the arrival of an investigative team from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), a conflict broke out between the drivers and law enforcement officers, which escalated into a fight, the Military Prosecutor’s Office reported.
Preliminary information indicates that the conflict was linked to the participants’ attempts to flee the scene, after which they were detained by officers from the city police department. According to the Military Prosecutor’s Office, both detainees are employees of the Ministry of Defense.
The suspects were detained and placed in a holding cell, while the Military Prosecutor’s Office stated it is preparing a motion for their pretrial detention as a preventive measure. Authorities also reported that additional investigative measures are being carried out to establish all the circumstances of the incident.
Following the arrest, colleagues and friends of the two detainees gathered outside the police headquarters in Tskhinvali and demanded their release. Police fired warning shots to disperse the crowd. There have been no official reports of casualties, and local online resources also contain no information regarding injuries.
A video of the incident appeared online, in which at least five shots can be heard. However, it is unclear from the video itself exactly who is depicted or what demands these people were making.
South Ossetian Ministry of Defense employees have previously appeared in criminal case materials. In February 2025, according to reports, a Ministry of Defense employee opened fire on his wife’s car following an argument.
In 2024, a police officer and a Ministry of Defense employee were involved in a shootout near a cafe. Both sustained serious injuries.
In 2021, journalist Ruslan Totrov was attacked and injured by South Ossetian Deputy Defense Minister Sergey Kabisov. Reportedly, the motive for the attack was Totrov’s criticism of then-South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov, published on social media.
OC Media: For ease of reading, we have chosen not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions in Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.
