During a live Q&A broadcast by the Grozny State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced his willingness to run for reelection in 2026. He emphasized that he would only participate in the elections if he received an offer from President Vladimir Putin and popular support.
I have sent two files to this message – 016-1 and 016-2, because I could not find one photo with three flags – Russian, South Ossetian and Abkhazian. If you can combine these three in one photo, that would be great.
On August 26, on the 15th anniversary of the declaration of independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which the international community has not recognized, the chairman of the Russian Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Grigory Karasin visited Tskhinvali and reported that Russia is doing everything possible so that other countries, including China and India, “move towards recognition” of the former Georgian regions.
“We cannot count on recognition happening at the snap of a finger. This is a difficult but achievable goal,” the senator noted.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away from Georgia after the five-day August 2008 war between Georgia and Russia, which, on the orders of then-President Dmitry Medvedev, sent troops to the Tskhinvali region. After that, Georgia broke off diplomatic relations with Russia and considers it an occupier. The Strasbourg court also ruled that an occupation process was underway there. As a result, South Ossetia and Abkhazia were recognized only by Russia itself and countries equally far from European values, which Moscow also managed to interest financially: Nicaragua, Venezuela, Syria and the island state of Nauru. For all these 15 years, Russia has been financing Sukhumi and Tskhinvali and strengthening its military bases there. They, in turn, have successfully mastered the aid and demonstrated loyal feelings. Thus, in April 2022, South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov announced the beginning of preparations for a referendum on the republic's accession to Russia. "I believe that unification with Russia is our strategic goal. Our path. The aspirations of the people. And we will move along this path," he said.
President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania also recently stated that he does not rule out Abkhazia joining the union state of Russia and Belarus, provided that the republic's independence and the right of the Abkhaz people to express their will are preserved. "Of course, we are interested in peace in this region. We have no claims against Georgia - we are not waging war for someone else's, but we are certainly not going to give up ours to anyone," he said, adding that he misses the Soviet Union and believes that its collapse "should not have happened."
During his anniversary visit to Tskhinvali, Grigory Karasin noted that "truly fraternal relations have developed" between Russia and South Ossetia. "Russia has provided and will continue to provide South Ossetia with comprehensive support in state building, ensuring security, and developing the economy and social sphere," he said. Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev also did not ignore the anniversary date, having published a large article in Argumenty i Fakty, in which he threatened the West that the idea of Abkhazia and South Ossetia joining Russia “may well be realized.” Official Tbilisi did not see anything new in the statements of Karasin and Medvedev. It also did not notice some contradiction in the fact that the Russian diplomat started talking about China, with which Georgia had just signed an agreement on strategic partnership. Vice Speaker of Parliament from the ruling Georgian Dream Gia Volsky believes that Russia will not be able to achieve recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by China and India. “There is no prospect for this, but we must remember, if we reason without emotions, that Russia has its own strategic vision, strategic objectives, which fundamentally contradict Georgia’s strategic objectives and vision of its future.”