Armed Forces of South Ossetia volunteers in the war amounted to 150 dead. According to the 2012 statement by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, Russia had been training the South Ossetian militias as part of the Russian General Staff's 2006–2007 plan to rebuff Georgia in case of war. In March 2015, members of the Parliament of South Ossetia put forward a proposal to dissolve South Ossetia's military and fold it into the Russian Armed Forces, but the proposal was ultimately rejected by Leonid Tibilov and Defense Minister Ibragim Gassayev. The South Ossetian units were to be incorporated into the Russian military but remain separate
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