South Ossetia's president resigns to become Putin's adviser, reigniting annexation speculation

Alan Gagloev, the president of the partially recognized Republic of South Ossetia, announced his resignation on June 23. He stated that he had accepted an offer to become an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin has already issued a decree appointing him to the post. Gagloev expressed his support for Putin and said he was ready to stand by his side.

The resignation came the day after the Kremlin reported a meeting between Putin and Gagloev. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the meeting covered prospects for further bilateral dialogue, particularly in light of a treaty signed in Moscow on May 9, 2026. The Treaty on Deepening Allied Interaction allows Russian citizens to hold government positions in South Ossetia and vice versa.

In mid-May, the State Duma ratified the treaty. On June 8, Gagloev nominated Marat Kambolov, a Russian citizen and former leader at the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center, to head the South Ossetian government. Parliament approved Kambolov's nomination on June 16, and he became prime minister. Kambolov had worked at the Kurchatov Institute from 2014 to 2026. The institute's head, Mikhail Kovalchuk, and his brother Yury are considered part of Putin's inner circle.

Kambolov served as prime minister for only one week before Gagloev resigned. Under South Ossetian law, the head of government becomes acting president until snap elections are held. South Ossetia's independence is recognized by only five UN member states: Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria.

A source close to the Russian presidential administration told Meduza in 2022 that the Kremlin had developed a scenario for annexing South Ossetia and Abkhazia, either to Russia or to the Union State of Russia and Belarus. The move could be used to demonstrate territorial gains to the Russian public after Russian forces withdrew from parts of occupied Ukraine. However, the scenario was only briefly discussed. In Ossetia, a majority of the population supports annexation, but in Abkhazia, a majority is opposed. Annexing only South Ossetia was considered too small a prize. A political consultant described the republic as a gray zone for money laundering and illicit cash schemes, which may have deterred the Kremlin.

Gagloev's predecessor, Anatoly Bibilov, had signed a decree calling for a referendum on unification with Russia after losing the election. Gagloev, upon taking office, postponed the referendum. A political operative who worked on South Ossetian elections suggested that the mini-USSR project might be reconsidered.