Russian Gov't Approves Draft Bill to Include S Ossetia Divisions in Russian Army

The Russian government approved a draft agreement with South Ossetia on inclusion of some of its military divisions into the Russian Armed Forces, the decree published Monday on the official Russian legal information website said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The relevant proposal will be submitted to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"To approve a draft agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of South Ossetia on the inclusion of some of its military divisions into the Russian Armed Forces, which was presented by Russian Defense Ministry, agreed on with Russian Foreign Ministry and other interested federal executive authorities and previously worked on with the South Ossetian side," the decree said.

Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia, as well as of Abkhazia, following a five-day war that broke out after Georgia's military operation against the breakaway republics in 2008. Since then it has been recognized by several other states, while Georgia still does not consider neither Abkhazia nor South Ossetia as independent states.