North Ossetian Officials Restrained in Their Reaction to Appeal to have All Ossetians Fighting in Ukraine Return Home

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 7 – Officials in North Ossetia have been restrained in their reaction to an appeal by local NGOs to have all Ossetians now serving in the Russian military in Ukraine return home (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/08/north-ossetian-ngos-call-for-immediate.html), a reaction that may say more about the situation there than even the original appeal did.

            A blogger from North Ossetia speaking on condition of anonymity tells Ekho Kavkaza that the authorities have only asked local media outlets not to distribute the appeal on their networks (ekhokavkaza.com/a/kak-vlasti-severnoy-osetii-otvetili-na-prizyv-ne-otpravlyatj-osetin-v-ukrainu-/33070874.html).

            It does not appear that the powers that be there are prepared to threaten those who wrote the appeal and signed their names at least in part because “the authorities clearly aren’t interested in provoking a scandal,” the anonymous blogger says. That interpretation is justified because the authorities have chosen not to condemn the appeal.

            He continues that Ossetian society has turned out to be “unprepared for such significant losses” as the Ossetian soldiers have suffered. Many supported their men going to fight because they feared that if Russia lost in Ukraine, there would be new attacks by Islamist groups in the north and a revived conflict with Georgia in the south.

            Reportedly, the blogger says, some 12,000 Ossetians have joined up, of whom only 1100 come from the south. There has been growing unhappiness about the number and the losses, but the authorities believe it best not to say anything lest they provoke an explosion of anger in response.

            The powers that be remain confident that the large bonuses on offer to those who join up will continue to fill the ranks. North Ossetia currently gives 195,000 rubles (2,000 US dollars) to men who do, five times the average monthly salary of people in that poor republic, the blogger says.

            “In the obituaries of combat losses,” the blogger says, “you can often read that the deceased was in his 50s or even 60s and had three or four children. These men with low incomes agreed to take risks to be able to support their families. The relatives of those who die are given almost five million rubles (50,000 US dollars),” an astronomical figure in North Ossetia.

            And he adds that the government of the republic works hard to support people who have lost someone, in contrast to the situation in other regions and republics.