Posted on 03/30/2022 9:05:21 PM PDT by Meet the New Boss
Today, about 300 soldiers (mostly ethnic Ossetians) from the Russian military base returned to South Ossetia of their own free will, because they thought they had been left for dead during a special operation in Ukraine.
The former president of South Ossetia called not to draw hasty conclusions and not to accuse the guys of desertion, but to carefully investigate the situation when soldiers are sent to combat operations without full outfit and stocks of weapons, warm clothing and protective equipment.
Returned soldiers on the border of Russia and South Ossetia. They hitchhiked home.
additional detail on this incident from tweets by Rooslan Totrov:
Alik’s publication requires a background deep dive. Here is what I have to say about South Ossetian soldiers’ voluntary refusal to partake in the warfare in Ukraine.
1. Many Ossetians seek revenge against Ukraine for its de-facto political and military support of Georgia when the latter conducted genocide and repression of non-Georgian ethnic groups of former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
1.1 What certainly stands out in that regard is the participation of UNA-UNSO in the war against South Ossetia back in 2008.
2. South Ossetia had its own army back in the days but it was demolished by president Bibilov – a loyal puppet to Kremlin’s then eminense grise Vladislav Surkov.
2.1 Mr. Bibilov forced the merger of Ossetian military personnel into Russian army, and oppressed, utilizing Mr. Surkov’s immense influence, all his political rivals who were not in favor of such a decision.
3. South Ossetian soldiers ended up in Ukraine as integral part of the Russian army. Again, this is due to president Bibilov’s decision some time ago.
3.1 The very fact of sending hundreds of Ossetians to Ukraine sparked the flames of discontent in South Ossetia as the country has literally lost most of its soldiers for the time being and become completely vulnerable to Georgia.
4. There was no rapport between Ossetian soldiers and Russian commanders from the get-go, as the former didn’t buy into the latter’s strategy and tactics in the territory they were fighting in.
4.1 Ossetians were expected to carelessly attack well defended Ukrainian positions in the kamikaze style, without any well thought thru strategy. This would have led to immense losses. At some point Ossetian soldiers just ignored orders and started fighting their own way.
5. As the outcome of such a rebellious and independent demeanor, major incident followed: a refusal to supply ammunition and maps to the Ossetian unit.
5.1 This triggered Ossetians to come up with a tense theory: “They want to have as many people from Caucasus slaughtered in this senseless bloodbath as possible”. (Interestingly enough, there is a disproportionate number of casualties from Dagestan and North Ossetia per capita).
6. And then there was the final incident that almost ended at the gunpoint. One of the commanders prohibited Ossetian soldiers to retrieve their dead comrade’s body from the battlefield. This ignited a real unrest.
6.1 Soldiers tried to explain that according to Ossetian tradition the body had to be delivered to the family, but the commander suggested sending in an empty coffin. The response was fierce: we are going to put you in that coffin and ship to Ossetia in case you try to stop us.
7. The commander immediately called in a group of loyal Russian soldiers for his protection. Thus, all the hierarchical ties in the unit were destroyed.
7.1 Ossetian soldiers refused to obey the Russians’ orders and went home immediately. They also issued a warning of shooting anyone who would try to stop them. The group reached South Ossetia in a seamless fashion accompanied by police convoys.
Uh, oh, trouble in River City!
Russians not playing nice with their vassals.
Regarding the information in the tweets, I have seen other reports of disproportionately high casualties in Ukraine among Dagestani troops in the Russian army and this account also confirms Ukrainian reports that Russians seem to care little about recovering the bodies of their dead soldiers.
It may be as suggested in this account that the Russian military strategy is to send Caucasian troops in as cannon fodder to try to soften up the Ukrainian defenses after which they send in the Russian troops.
South Osetta has announced a referendum to join with Russia soon.
Here’s the source:
South Ossetia to hold referendum to join Russia in future - report
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-702755
One can see why South Ossetian President Bibilov wants to be part of Russia.
If Bibilov is sending away his own Ossetian troops to Ukraine to be thrown away in kamikaze attacks on the battlefield, then he will need even more Russian troops there in South Ossetia to protect his own position from the Georgians.
Strange politics. Russia stepped in and crushed Georgia when Ossetia wanted independence, so you would expect some loyalty. But they refuse to be used as cannon fodder.
Chechnya was crushed by Russia when they sought autonomy, so you would expect them to reject Russia’s demand they fight in Ukraine. Instead, they seem to be the most enthusiastic, much more so than Russians.
This tells me Ossetian soldiers are a lot smarter than Chechens.
Yeah, the Russians are having troubles.
UK spy chief: Russian soldiers are refusing to carry out orders in Ukraine
https://theweek.com/russo-ukrainian-war/1011977/uk-spy-chief-russian-soldiers-are-refusing-to-carry-out-orders-in
Russia looking to recruit fighters from Libya, repositioning troops around Kyiv
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2022/03/31/Russia-looking-to-recruit-fighters-from-Libya-repositioning-troops-around-Kyiv
They’re still shelling Kyiv, too, even though they had said that they were going to stop attacking that city.
Ziskey strikes again...
...they’re zussies
You presume that the above story is not a prioaganda.
Hook, line, and sinker...again. 🤣
“ I have seen other reports of disproportionately high casualties in Ukraine among Dagestani troops in the Russian army”
I read other analysis that one of Putin’s lessons learned from his past wars, was to avoid casualties from among families in the major cities in Russia. Word gets around and turns public opinion. So even among the ethnic Russian soldiers, those in the Ukraine are disproportionally from rural areas and Siberia.
Just waiting for the FR Putin Puffers to spin this...lol
[Search domain geohistory.today] https://geohistory.today › south-ossetia
South Ossetia is almost wholly Orthodox Christian, with very small minorities of Jews and Muslims. The entire region is desperately poor, with what little economic activity that existed before now largely extinguished by two recent wars and decades of isolation.
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