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 would become part of Russia within "several years", but later retracted the comments in an interview with Interfax and stated that he may have been misunderstood, and that South Ossetia would not give up its independence. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, whilst in Warsaw, denied that South Ossetia would join the Russian Federation. Lavrov's position was also mirrored in August 2009 by Dmitry Medoyev, who stated that "South Ossetia will be building an independent state". On 17 September 2008, Russia and South Ossetia signed a treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance at the Kremlin in Moscow. According