Breakaway South Ossetia Holds Military Maneuvers

The authorities in Georgia?s breakaway South Ossetia are holding military exercises in the Java district of the unrecognized republic, South Ossetian media reports.

South Ossetian de facto President Eduard Kokoev is also attending the exercises. ?We need to hold military exercises to be ready for defending our independence,? Kokoev said.

This is not for the first time the exercises have been held in the breakaway region. Earlier in July the de facto authorities also held maneuvers in the region. The de facto authorities reported then that ?hundreds of volunteers? from Georgia?s breakaway Abkhazia and Russia?s North Ossetia had joined the South Ossetian forces.