Russian MiniLessons: Южная Осетия – South Ossetia

The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal its English translation.

Оn August 28, Russia признала независимостьrecognized the independence of South Ossetia. Непризнанное государствоThe unrecognized state, dejure входит в составis a part of Georgia, but defacto it became a отколовшаяся республикаa breakaway republic in 1992 and has effectively ruled itself ever since.

Political differences between South Ossetia and Georgia, as they attempted to negotiate the South Ossetia’s place in the new Georgian state, deteriorated to вооруженные столкновенияmilitary clashes in 1991, after which South Ossetia объявила независимостьdeclared independence. However, the international community did not recognize the new state. South Ossetia turned to Russia for protection during the peace negotiations with Georgia in 1992. Under a Смешанной контрольной комиссииJoint Control Commission, South Ossetia, Georgia, and Russia agreed that a peacekeeping force made up of soldiers from all three countries would ensure peace in the region until a more permanent solution could be found. The region then became what is often referred to as a “замороженный конфликт”'frozen conflict'.

The major military confrontation between Georgian troops, on one side, and South Ossetia’s and Russian military, on the other side, which took place in August, 2008, was called “война”war by some Russian media. Other media called it only “боевые действия”military actions. Whatever it is called, although it is officially over, there is still no peace in the region, despite the mediation of French President Nicolas Sarkozy on behalf of the European Union. One of the reasons is that the стороны'parties' – or people who signed the document interpret the мирное соглашениеpeace agreement in different ways.

Nicolas Sarkozy supports Georgia in its call for a Russia to immediately вывести войскаwithdraw troops from Georgia. Point five of the peace agreement does state that Russia must withdraw its troops. However, this point also states that Russia has the right to принять дополнительные меры безопасностиtake additional security measures until the international community can agree on a mechanism to ensure the security of the region. Thus, Russia argues, its continued presence and actions in Georgia are justified.

In official statements, the Russian Foreign Ministry has argued that all Russian military units were returned to Russia, except for those which are in South Ossetia by the request of the South Ossetian leadership for поддержание мираpeacekeeping and that Russian миротворческие силыpeacekeeping forces have сформировали зону безопасностиcreated a security zone around South Ossetia, in accordance with point five of the peace agreement. This security zone contains постыobservation stations staffed by a total of 500 Russian миротворцыpeacekeepers.

The six points are listed below (translation as used by the Associated Press):

Шесть принципов мирного урегулированияSix Point Peace Plan

1. Не прибегать к использованию силы.No recourse to the use of force
2. Окончательно прекратить все военные действия.A lasting cessation of hostilities
3. Свободный доступ к гуманитарной помощи.Unfettered access for humanitarian aid providers
4. Вооружённые силы Грузии возвращаются в места их постоянной дислокации.Georgian forces must withdraw to their usual barracks
5. Вооружённые Силы Российской Федерации выводятся на линию, предшествующую началу боевых действий. До создания международных механизмов российские миротворческие силы принимают дополнительные меры безопасности.Russian forces must go back to positions they held prior to the outbreak of hostilities. Pending an international peace monitoring mechanism, Russian peacekeepers will take additional security measures
6. Начало международного обсуждения вопросов будущего статуса Южной Осетии и Абхазии и путей обеспечения их прочной безопасности.Launch of international discussions on security and stability arrangements for Abkhazia and South Ossetia