Putin pledges $12,000 for every school in South Ossetia for Victory Day celebrations

Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to give ₽1 million ($12,000) to every village and school in South Ossetia in preparation for 9 May, the holiday commemorating the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in 1945.

The decision was announced on Saturday by Deputy Chief of Staff of Russia’s Presidential Administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, during Easter celebrations in Tskhinvali (Tskhinval) with South Ossetian President Alan Gagloev.

⁣⁣Kiriyenko told journalists that the funds were intended, among other things, to prepare for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.⁣⁣⠀

‘The people of South Ossetia showed examples of selfless heroism, true courage, and devotion to their homeland during the Great Patriotic War [WWII]. The Ossetian land has given a huge number of heroes, who are rightfully proud not only in Ossetia, but throughout our large country. And a large number of sons of South Ossetia are also participating in the special military operation [the full-scale war against Ukraine] — shoulder to shoulder with the Russians, they are defending our common homeland’, Kiriyenko said.

Since coming to power in 2000, Putin has increasingly used Victory Day and the Soviet Union’s triumph in the Second World War for propaganda purposes. Dubbed the ‘Cult of Victory’ by critics, this phenomenon includes extensive historical revisionism, especially surrounding the outbreak of the war in 1939. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has also attempted to draw parallels between its aggression and the fight against Nazi Germany in WWII.

Kiriyenko arrived in South Ossetia earlier on Saturday and met with Gagloev to discuss ‘strengthening cooperation’ between Russia and South Ossetia and restoring infrastructure.

During a subsequent press briefing, Kiriyenko also announced that Putin had instructed that a branch of the state-owned Promsvyazbank would open in South Ossetia, a move he said would help South Ossetians, the overwhelming majority of whom hold Russian citizenship, to receive their pensions without travelling to Russia.

He added that premises had already been allocated for the bank.

Kiriyenko also disclosed that Putin had allocated ‘significant’ funds to modernise the Nizhny Zaramag border checkpoint with Russia, which he said could increase vehicle traffic by 70%.

He added that the project was expected to be completed in 2028.

Gagloev also thanked Kiriyenko for resolving an issue with acquiring Russian driver’s licenses, emphasising that ‘South Ossetia has always felt the support and assistance of its strategic partner’.

In addition to his one-on-one meeting with Gagloev, Kiriyenko also met with South Ossetian MPs to discuss joint infrastructure projects, assistance to military personnel in Ukraine, and the interaction of government agencies, among other issues.

‘During our working meeting, the main problematic issues that worry the residents of our republic were voiced. And, in my opinion, and in the opinion of all the deputies, today we received very detailed and extensive answers to them’, Parliamentary Chair Alan Margiev said following the meeting.

That night, Kiriyenko and Gagloev visited Holy Trinity Church in Tskhinvali to take part in an Easter service.

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.

Russia ready to restore relations with Georgia, while still recognising Abkhazia and South Ossetia

Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili had vowed to ‘apologise’ to South Ossetia over the former ruling UNM party’s role in the August 2008 War.

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