1991–1992 South Ossetia War down. During the war, approximately 1,000 people died. It also led to the creation of large numbers of refugees: About 100,000 ethnic Ossetians fled from South Ossetia and Georgia proper, mainly into North Ossetia (part of Russia). A further 23,000 ethnic Georgians fled from South Ossetia and settled in other Georgian areas. The flow of refugees into Northern Ossetia aggravated the tense ethnic situation there and played a significant role in the Ossetian–Ingush conflict. 1991–1992 South Ossetia War The 1991–1992 South Ossetian War (also known as the First South Ossetian war) was fought as part of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict between
Russia–South Ossetia relations recognition was condemned by the European Union, United States, NATO, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, amongst others, with some calling for Russia to rescind its recognition. Many high level Russian politicians including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov, Chairman of the State Duma Boris Gryzlov, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin and Permanent Representative of Russia to NATO Dmitry Rogozin, rejected the criticism, and have stated that Russian recognition of South Ossetia is irreversible. In an interview to Vesti in August