South Ossetia for five years. The government of South Ossetia is a component of the integrated system of the executive branch. South Ossetia's armed forces in 2017 were partially incorporated into the Armed Forces of Russia. Before the Georgian-Ossetian conflict roughly two-thirds of the population of South Ossetia was Ossetian and 25–30% was Georgian. The eastern quarter of the country, around the town and district of Akhalgori, was predominantly Georgian, while the center and west were predominantly Ossetian. Much of the mountainous north is sparsely inhabited. (See map at Languages of the Caucasus.) Because the statistical office of Georgia was not able
Russia–South Ossetia relations on the night of 7 to 8 August 2008, the Georgian military launched an offensive on Tskhinval, the South Ossetian capital. The leader of Georgian peacekeepers in South Ossetia said the purpose was to "restore constitutional order" in the region. The majority of the inhabitants of South Ossetia hold Russian citizenship, and Russia citing Chapter VII Article 51 of the United Nations Charter sent troops into South Ossetia through the Roki Tunnel in the morning of 8 August. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in noting the deaths of Russian peacekeepers and South Ossetian civilians, stated: "In accordance with the Constitution and