South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast in the context of "Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union"

The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia, was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the Russian-backed separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The fighting took place in the strategically important South Caucasus region. It is regarded as the first European war of the 21st century.

Georgia declared its independence from the Soviet Union in April 1991, following a referendum during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, fighting (1991–92) between Georgia and Ossetian separatists resulted in parts of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast being under the de facto control of Russian-backed but internationally unrecognised separatists. In 1992, a joint peacekeeping force of Georgian, Russian, and Ossetian troops was stationed in the territory. A similar stalemate developed in the region of Abkhazia, where the separatists had waged a war in 1992–1993, culminating in the ethnic cleansing of Georgians. Following the election of Vladimir Putin in Russia in 2000 and a pro-Western change of power in Georgia in 2003, relations between Russia and Georgia began to severely deteriorate, reaching a full diplomatic crisis by April 2008.

Russian-occupied territories in Georgia (Georgian: რუსეთის მიერ ოკუპირებული ტერიტორიები საქართველოში, romanized: rusetis mier ok'up'irebuli t'erit'oriebi sakartveloshi) refers to areas of Georgia's sovereign territory to what a large portion of the international community designates as occupied by Russia since the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, regardless of what their status is in Russian law. They consist of the regions of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and the former South Ossetian Autonomous Region of Soviet Georgia (currently divided between several non-autonomous administrative divisions of independent Georgia), whose status is a matter of international dispute.

Since the 2008 war and subsequent Russian military occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Russian government, along with four other UN member states, considers the territories sovereign independent states: the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia. Before Russian occupation, the unrecognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia did not completely control their respectively claimed territories. Russian military bases were established in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia does not allow the European Union Monitoring Mission to enter either Abkhazia or South Ossetia. Russia has signed agreements with the de facto civilian administrations of both territories to integrate them militarily and economically into Russia. Russian troops have started the process of demarcation ("borderization") along, and beyond the Georgia–South Ossetia separation line.

The Administration of South Ossetia (Georgian: სამხრეთი ოსეთის ადმინისტრაცია, romanized: Samxreti Osetis administʼracia; Ossetian: Хуссар Ирыстоны администраци, romanized: Xussar Irystony Administraci), officially the Administration of the Temporary Administrative-Territorial Unit on the Territory of the Former Autonomous Region of South Ossetia, is an administrative division that Georgia regards as the legal government of South Ossetia. The administration was set up by the Georgian government as a transitional measure leading to the settlement of South Ossetia's status. The area lies within the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast which was abolished by the Georgian government in 1990. Since then, South Ossetia has had no formal autonomous status within Georgia. Following the 2008 South Ossetia war, the Provisional Administration has had no South Ossetian territory under its control and remains a nominal entity.

Dmitry Ivanovich Sanakoyev (born 10 May 1969 in Tskhinvali, South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union) is a South Ossetian and Georgian politician, a former official in the secessionist government of South Ossetia and later, from 2007 to 2022, served as the Head of the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia, a rival entity established in the Georgian-controlled territories in the South Ossetia region by the Georgian government.