Attack on South Ossetian customs official linked to president’s brother

An armed attack on the Head of the South Ossetian Customs Committee, Alexander Chochiev, is currently under investigation. The attack took place on 26 April in his office in Tskhinvali (Tskhinval).

According to sources cited by the Russian media outlet Sapa, three armed individuals — among them Khoh Gabaraev and Oleg Dzhabiev — threatened Chochiev with a pistol.

According to several local Telegram channels, the armed men broke into Chochiev’s office, demanding he ‘sign a contract with a customs officer’. Some reports also said that Chochiev was beaten during the incident.

Gabaraev and Dzhabiev are believed to be close associates of Alik Gagloev, the brother of South Ossetian President Alan Gagloev. They had previously been accused of several crimes, including the alleged kidnapping and torture of a South Ossetian citizen, Vladislav Valiev, using an Argentinian boa constrictor.

In 2023, they were reportedly sentenced to seven years in prison. However, South Ossetia’s Supreme Court changed their sentence, replacing their ruling with a suspended sentence.

Following the attack, the South Ossetian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the arrest of 11 people allegedly linked to ‘criminal activities’. The ministry’s press service claimed that weapons, ammunition, explosives, and fake vehicle licence plates were seized during the operation. However, none of the detainees are reported to have been directly involved in the attack on Chochiev.

The South Ossetian General Prosecutor’s Office has opened a criminal case on charges of violence against a public official and illegal possession of firearms. In an official statement, the office noted that the suspects remain at large.

One theory suggests that the attack stemmed from a conflict between former allies over cigarette smuggling routes through South Ossetian territory and the redistribution of spheres of influence. Sources claim that Chochiev, who supported Alan Gagloev’s candidacy in the 2022 presidential elections and was appointed after his victory, had become an obstacle to criminal operations.

According to JAMnews, a law enforcement representative speaking on condition of anonymity suggested that the attack might have been staged. He alleged that the police knew who was responsible for the assault on Chochiev but deliberately detained other individuals instead.

Gagloev has distanced himself from the incident. During the active police operation, he attended the final of a mini football tournament in the village of Dmenis. He has made no official statements regarding the attack.

The formerly ruling United Ossetia party has called on the president to eliminate criminal elements from and to convene an emergency parliamentary session over the incident. The party stated that ‘the criminal situation has spiralled out of control’, and that shootings, kidnappings and murders had become commonplace.

At the time of publication, the South Ossetian authorities had not commented on the attack.

Meanwhile, North Ossetian parliamentary deputy Dzambolat Tedeev harshly criticised the South Ossetian law enforcement agencies, describing their actions as ‘criminal inaction’.

For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

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OC MediaElizaveta Chukharova