300 fighters from Georgia’s de facto Tskhinvali refuse to fight in Ukraine, return home

About 300 troops from the Georgian Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region, who have been recently sent to Ukraine to fight, have refused to do so and returned home independently, Media Zona has reported based on locals, including former de facto President of Tskhinvali Eduard Kokoity. 

An alleged reason behind the refusal was a controversy with the Russian leadership who had not allowed the fighters to take the bodies of killed soldiers from the battlefield. 

The UK intelligence had reported that between 1,200-2,000 troops were sent to Ukraine from Tskhinvali. 

Kokoity said earlier this week that participation in the war posed threats to the gene pool of “South Ossetia” (Tskhinvali). 

Unlike another Russian-occupied Abkhazia region of Georgia, Tskhinvali has plans to hold a referendum in the coming months over unification with Russia.