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Leader of Russian-occupied Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, Anatoly Bibilov has instructed defense chief Ibragim Gasseev to assess combat readiness of weaponry, equipment and “defense ministry” personnel amid the possibility of “provocations” from Tbilisi, Tskhinvali-based RES agency reports.

In Bibilov’s opinion, the review is necessary amid an escalation of tensions around Ukraine, with the Kremlin-backed ‘president’ going on to claim on February 16 that Tbilisi “may well try to conduct provocations on this front.”

While military chief Gasseev has said S. Ossetian troops are in combat readiness, Bibilov has set February 24 as the date of an official review, also aimed at informing the public if “the armed forces are ready for provocations, to repulse aggression or not.”

While there is a scarcity of reliable information available on the number of S. Ossetian military capacity, Russian media estimates that Tskhinvali could be maintaining around 1,200 active servicemen.