1991–1992 South Ossetia War place around the city in the nearby villages and along the road to North Ossetia. In spring 1992 the fighting escalated again, with sporadic Russian involvement. However, in March 1992, Gamsakhurdia was ousted and replaced by Eduard Shevardnadze. Soon after, Gamsakhurdia loyalists staged an armed rebellion. Furthermore, the conflict with Georgia's other, bigger, separatist region Abkhazia, escalated into a war in 1992. As a result, Shevardnadze had an interest in ending the conflict in South Ossetia and signed the Russian-brokered Sochi agreement. The ceasefire agreement left South Ossetia divided into areas controlled by Georgia and areas controlled by the unrecognised
Russia–South Ossetia relations the first Russian Ambassador to South Ossetia, Elbrus Kargiyev, who presented his Letters of Credence to South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity on 16 December 2008. Dmitry Medoyev, the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Republic of South Ossetia to Russia was appointed by Eduard Kokoity as South Ossetia's first ambassador to Russia on 13 January 2009. Medoyev presented his credentials to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on 16 January 2009. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin issued a directive to set up a Russian embassy in South Ossetia in 2009. Eduard Kokoity said during talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that it