South Ossetia has long been loyal to Russia, with the Kremlin providing significant financial support. Image / news.com.au
A rebel region of a tiny European nation has announced plans to join Russia, sparking fears of yet more conflict to come.
Just five weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin stunned the world by invading neighbouring Ukraine, the South Ossetia region of Georgia has revealed it will hold a referendum in an attempt to officially become part of Russia.
The pro-Russian region – which has a population of around 50,000 – has declared itself to be a republic, although most of the world recognises it as belonging to Georgia.
But in a statement, South Ossetia's President Anatoly Bibilov said he believed that "unity with Russia is our strategic goal" and "the aspiration of the people".
"And we will move along this path. We will take the appropriate legal steps in the near future," Bibilov's statement reads.
"The Ossetian people are divided, and their historical and strategic goal is unification within one state. This state is the Russian Federation."
However, there are fears the move by Georgia's breakaway region could signal an escalation in Russia's annexation ambitions, given the entire Ukraine invasion began after Putin officially recognised the Ukrainian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in February.
Adding to those fears is the fact Russian politician Andrei Klimov confirmed to state-run media service Tass that the Kremlin was ready to absorb South Ossetia should the referendum pass.
Meanwhile, South Ossetia has sent troops to Ukraine in support of the Russian invasion, with Bibilov announcing last weekend he wanted to "help protect Russia".
"Our guys are going to fulfil their military duty with a proudly raised banner," he said on Telegram.
"They understand perfectly that they are going to defend Russia, they are going to defend Ossetia too.
"Because if fascism is not crushed at the distant frontiers, tomorrow it will again manifest itself here."
Georgia's second breakaway region, Abkhazia, has also voiced support for the move, with Abkhazian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shamba telling Tass it was South Ossetia's "historical destiny" to join Russia.
Putin's 'larger ambitions'
The latest bombshell comes amid speculation Putin's masterplan is the rebuilding of the old Soviet Union, with several experts suggesting the invasion of Ukraine was just the first step.
Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden himself agreed with that assessment, claiming Putin has "much larger ambitions in Ukraine".
"He wants to, in fact, re-establish the former Soviet Union. That's what this is about," Biden said at the time, years after Putin raised eyebrows in 2005 by claiming in a speech that the dissolution of the Soviet Union was the "greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century".
Since then, many have suggested that the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Moldova and Georgia could be under threat.
"Any area where the Russians have their quote-unquote peacekeeping forces … or anything that has disputed territory [is vulnerable]," former US Defence Intelligence Agency officer Rebekah Koffler told Fox News in early March.
"Will Putin now move quickly against other post-Soviet states? More military attacks on other post-Soviet countries seem unlikely for now," Penn State professor emerita of political science Donna Bahry added.
"But Putin could ramp up pressure on the countries with closer ties to the EU, such as Moldova and Georgia – for example, by recognising the independence of Transnistria or annexing South Ossetia."
Georgia's complicated history
Georgia – located in the Caucasus and nestled between Europe and Asia – was invaded and annexed by the former Soviet Union in 1922.
In 1991, the nation gained independence – along with other nearby nations such as Ukraine – with the Soviet Union collapsing later that year.
But in 2008, as relations between Georgia and Russia worsened, the Russo-Georgian War broke out.
While it lasted just 12 days, Russia has been occupying parts of Georgia ever since, after former President Dmitry Medvedev signed decrees recognising the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign states.
Those breakaway regions have long been loyal to Russia, with the Kremlin providing significant financial support, offering Russian citizenship to residents and positioning thousands of Russian troops in the area.