Seven contract soldiers dismissed after scuffle outside South Ossetian Interior Ministry
Following an internal investigation, seven contract soldiers have been dismissed from the South Ossetian army, while another soldier has been declared wanted. They were involved in an incident on 9 May, when a group of military personnel clashed with police officers outside the Interior Ministry building in Tskhinvali (Tskhinval), the Prosecutor General’s Office of South Ossetia reported.
South Ossetian President Alan Gagloev convened an emergency Security Council meeting to discuss the incident on 12 May, stating that ‘no one is allowed to destabilise the internal political situation’ and that all those responsible must be punished ‘strictly within the framework of the law’. Gagloev also ordered a detailed investigation into the circumstances of the incident and measures to prevent similar cases in the future.
South Ossetian Prosecutor General Georgy Sobaev reported that on the evening of 9 May, allegedly intoxicated soldiers became involved in a minor road accident on Heroes Street in Tskhinvali. After an operational and investigative team arrived at the scene, the detainees allegedly began resisting police officers.
Interior Minister Erislav Mamiev told the Security Council meeting that after one of the Defence Ministry special forces soldiers was detained, his acquaintances, friends, and fellow soldiers began arriving at the Interior Ministry building. According to the minister, among them was a soldier named Kasaev, who initially appeared in civilian clothing before returning later in military uniform and carrying a weapon.
Defence Minister Yury Yarovitsky added that Kasaev had been assigned as the officer on duty at a checkpoint at the time of the incident.
‘However, he arbitrarily left his place of duty. After receiving information about the detention of his fellow soldier, Kasaev returned to the unit’s location, changed into military uniform, took a weapon from the guard detail and arrived at the scene of the proceedings. Later, other soldiers from the special forces unit joined him’, Yarovitsky explained.
The internal investigation identified what officials described as ‘serious shortcomings in the organisation of service and oversight by responsible officials’. As a result, seven soldiers were dismissed ‘for failure to comply with the terms of their contracts’.
Two soldiers — the original participants in the conflict — were arrested in a case concerning violence against law enforcement officers. Another participant in the incident, Kasaev, who allegedly arrived at the Interior Ministry building armed, has been declared wanted.
‘Considering that one of the participants in the conflict is the son of a deceased participant in the special military operation [Russia’s term for its full-scale war against Ukraine], a certain degree of understanding had previously been shown towards separate episodes involving him. However, this should not become grounds for impunity’, Gagloev said.
Gagloev also instructed the Interior Minister to prepare a list of its officers involved in the detention of the soldiers so they could be nominated for state awards.
At the same time, reports are circulating on social media that one of the dismissed contract soldiers was seriously injured during a fight. Eduard Mamiev, presumably a relative of Interior Minister Erislav Mamiev, has been diagnosed with a broken nose, lacerations to the head, concussion, and numerous bruises and abrasions all over his body. He claims that he was personally beaten by the Interior Minister, due to a hostile relationship with his father. In support of his claims, Eduard Mamiev’s family has published photographs of his injuries.
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.
Elizaveta Chukharova
