A BIG poster of the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, greets visitors to the capital of separatist-held South Ossetia – a clear signal of what most residents hope is to come.
As both chambers of Russia's parliament passed resolutions yesterday urging the Kremlin to recognise South Ossetia's independence, South Ossetians overwhelmingly agreed – with many here seeing independence from Georgia as the first step to becoming
part of Russia.
"Ossetians have no doubts – we'll only be with Russia," said Robert Bestayev, 36, a South Ossetian military communications officer with a tiny Russian flag on the lapel of his grey suit.
While Russia's formal annexation of what is considered Georgian territory would further split Moscow from the West, South Ossetians see incorporation into the Russian Federation as a way to guarantee they never come under Georgian rule again.
Most here recognise that South Ossetia, by itself, is too small – it's about 1.5 times the size of Luxembourg – and too poor to survive very long on its own. "We'll die without Russia," said Yuza Valiyeva, a 58-year-old nurse. "What is independence? Who would protect us if were are independent?"
The war has brought relations between Russia and the West to a post-Cold War low, and the Kremlin would certainly raise tensions further by recognising the declared independence of South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia.
The South Ossetian president, Eduard Kokoity, said his region's independence was indisputable. "We have more of a right to recognition than Kosovo," he told Russian MPs.
Anatoly Pliev, a law professor with the South Ossetian Humanitarian University, sees a benevolence invisible to many in the West. "Russia has been the friendliest superpower in our history," he said.
