The majority of the roughly 70,000 people living in South Ossetia are ethnically distinct from Georgians. They complain that they were forcibly absorbed into Georgia under Soviet rule and want self-determination.
A peacekeeping force made up of soldiers from Russia, Georgia and North Ossetia monitors a 1992 truce. Tbilisi accuses Russian peacekeepers of siding with separatists, something Moscow denies. Sporadic clashes between separatist and Georgian forces have killed dozens of people in the last few years.
South Ossetia, about 60 miles (100 km) north of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, broke away from Georgia in a 1991-92 war that left several thousand people dead. It has close ties with the neighbouring Russian region of North Ossetia.
The majority of the roughly 70,000 people living in South Ossetia are ethnically distinct from Georgians. They complain that they were forcibly absorbed into Georgia under Soviet rule and want self-determination.
A peacekeeping force made up of soldiers from Russia, Georgia and North Ossetia monitors a 1992 truce. Tbilisi accuses Russian peacekeepers of siding with separatists, something Moscow denies. Sporadic clashes between separatist and Georgian forces have killed dozens of people in the last few years.
guardian.co.uk
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