Back in 1992, Nobody Believed That the South Ossetian Ceasefire Would Last for 16 Years

The South Ossetian conflict that flared up back in late 1989 started the break up of Georgia, and the present conflict might well seal it. Following the putsch of 1991, Boris Yeltsin’s Russia got increasingly more concerned about the rights of minorities in neighboring states, and the following year Russia was on the brink of intervening to protect South Ossetia. Sixteen years later, the country’s leadership seems to have gotten much more hot-headed.
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Russia Profile magazine