'Tomorrow they might stay silent if South Ossetia is 'given' to Georgia'
Vnukovo Customs leak sparks outage in South Ossetia
Leaked documentation from Vnukovo Customs lists South Ossetia and Abkhazia as part of Georgia, sparking outrage and concern in South Ossetian society after authorities (along with all other involved official parties) ignored the issue.
Vnukovo Customs is the customs service of Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, operating as a division of the Russian Federal Customs Service (FCS).
The leaked documents, now publicly accessible, designate Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Georgian territories, despite Russia officially recognizing their independence since 2008. Meanwhile, Nagorno-Karabakh, which fell under Azerbaijan’s control a year ago, is listed as part of Armenia, a status it has never held de jure or de facto.
A South Ossetian Telegram channel speculates that “the situation could lead to both domestic and foreign policy repercussions, given the sensitivity of territorial affiliation issues.”
However, no scandal erupted. Neither the Russian Federal Customs Service nor Vnukovo Customs commented on the matter. The South Ossetian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, parliament, and presidential administration also remained silent.
This led South Ossetian social media users to conclude that their authorities “couldn’t care less,” unleashing a wave of criticism against them.
They expressed outrage that the South Ossetian government meeting made no mention of this “egregious incident.”
Some took their concerns further, interpreting the silence as a sign that “South Ossetia could be handed over to Georgia” with the same quiet approval from local authorities:
“If today they remain silent in the face of such signals, tomorrow they could just as easily stay silent if South Ossetia is ‘handed over’ to Georgia. It’s safe to say that the current authorities are cowards who view South Ossetia simply as a place to make money.”
- “Russia won’t return South Ossetia to Georgia”: Reactions to the military-technical cooperation agreement
- Warming between Georgia and Russia: fears and expectations in relation to Abkhazia
For about a year, South Ossetian and Abkhazian societies have feared that if relations between Russia and Georgia improve, Moscow might “return” Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Georgia in exchange for Tbilisi’s renunciation of NATO membership. However, none of the governments involved (including Georgia’s) have ever commented on this matter, and there seem to be no concrete grounds for such predictions.
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