South Ossetia’s new authorities seek to crack down on illegal trade in ‘award’ weapons
The new president of South Ossetia, Marat Kambolov, has ordered an investigation into the legality of the circulation of civilian, service and military firearms, as well as bladed weapons.
The Prosecutor General’s Office is carrying out the president’s order. Kambolov’s fellow villager, Soslanbek Kozhiyev, was recently appointed first deputy prosecutor general.
A smuggled ‘award’
The authorities will pay particular attention to a practice that took hold under previous presidents: handing out Glock and Beretta pistols left, right and centre under the pretext of awarding them as honours. Smugglers brought the pistols into South Ossetia from Georgia.
Officials often used these supposed “awards” as a cover to sell the weapons to members of the criminal underworld or simply to anyone who wanted one. And plenty of people in South Ossetia want a gun “just in case”. However, Kambolov believes this “tradition”, which dates back to the 1990s, has run its course. He says that civilian gun ownership no longer serves a relevant purpose and that real security risks no longer justify it.
“Today, South Ossetia leads a peaceful life and is building a state governed by the rule of law. In a peaceful state, the law — not tradition, personal merit, official position or private arrangements — must determine the right to own a gun.
The republic has suspended all awards of weapons until the investigation ends. The state must know exactly where each weapon is, to whom and on what grounds it was issued, how it was registered and who is responsible for it,” the president said.
At the same time, he proposes extending permits to possess and carry most types of civilian firearms to ten years, while retaining mandatory checks and periodic permit renewals:
“This approach will allow us to bring order to the firearms register without imposing excessive bureaucracy on law-abiding owners. The republic’s Security Council will make the final decision on this matter, following a proposal from the prosecutor general.”
A rifle as a gift
These measures come amid criminal proceedings against former Interior Minister Erislav Mamiyev and his first deputy, Atsamaz Sagkayev.
Investigators suspect that Sagkayev “gifted” his boss, Mamiyev, a sniper rifle and an assault rifle in 2025 and 2026.
Authorities have opened two criminal cases against Sagkayev on suspicion of “abuse of official powers for personal gain or other personal motives”, an offence under the Criminal Code.
Some Telegram channels claim that over those two years, Sagkayev used the pretext of awarding weapons to sell 400 firearms to unknown buyers.
Both Sagkayev and Mamiyev lost their jobs at the Interior Ministry in August 2026, when Marat Kambolov, then prime minister, launched the first stage of a purge of South Ossetia’s security agencies.
The roots of the problem
Many consider Erislav Mamiyev a close friend of local crime boss Alexander (Alik) Gagloyev, the brother of former president Alan Gagloyev.
Social media has also circulated claims that Alan Gagloyev and his team planned to use his gangster brother and their friends, armed with weapons presented as “awards”, to hold on to power by force if he lost the 2027 presidential election.
But that scenario never materialised. In mid-2026, the Kremlin itself ousted Gagloyev from the presidency and effectively installed its own envoy, Marat Kambolov, in his place.
The new president is now trying to clean up his predecessor’s “legacy” and deliver on his promise to restore order, a pledge he repeatedly made to the people of South Ossetia over the past several months.
However, Alan Gagloyev was not the only former president involved in illegal arms trafficking. His predecessor, Leonid Tibilov, also had a record of such activity. One case came to light relatively recently, in autumn 2025. The major scandal that erupted at the time also implicated former Interior Minister Akhsar Lavoyev and Russian debt collector Eduard Budantsev, alongside Tibilov.
It emerged that back in December 2015, Budantsev and several former colleagues had exchanged gunfire in central Moscow using award weapons from South Ossetia. He had acquired the weapons through Tibilov and his inner circle.
“The trade in Glocks and Berettas in South Ossetia became a well-oiled operation under Tibilov and his associates. Gagloyev and his people simply continued the lucrative business,” a local expert said on condition of anonymity.
The terminology, place names and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of this website.
