Tskhinvali Leader Appoints “defense minister”

Kremlin-backed Tskhinvali leader Alan Gagloev appointed Marat Pavlov as the new “minister of defense” of Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia on 23 August, according to Gagloev’s press service.

After announcing the decision Gagloev emphasized that Pavlov had been closely cooperating with the defense department for a long time and made a “significant personal contribution to strengthening the combat capabilities” of the occupied region.

For his part, Pavlov thanked Gagloev for the appointment and emphasized, “We will focus our work on training national personnel and improving combat training.”

“Particular attention will be paid to raising the level of social security for military personnel, and this year, it is planned to index the monetary allowance of the military and defense department employees,” he added.

Gagloev also dismissed the “chief of the general staff of the armed forces” Viktor Fyodorov.

The Tskhinvali leader removed the former “defense minister” Vladimir Pukhaev and the “deputy minister” Igor Alborov from their posts on 12 August. The decision was connected with an incident in which men in camouflaged uniforms assaulted and drove off with an individual who later declined to press charges. Law enforcement concluded then that the assault was related to a conflict that occurred on 23 July during a wedding in which the individual had fought with a serviceman of the “ministry of defense” who ended up in the hospital with a fractured lower jaw. The serviceman also declined to file charges at the time.

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