On 14 July 1992, the Tripartite Peacekeeping Forces were deployed to South Ossetia under the Agreement on the Principles of the Settlement of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict. In South Ossetia, this date is marked as Peacekeeper Day.
The people of South Ossetia greeted the peacekeepers with flowers and tears of joy. The peacekeepers had stopped the bloodshed and restored hope for peace, stability and confidence in the future. This event became a turning point that made it possible to halt the conflict and begin the path towards a peaceful life.
The peacekeeping process in South Ossetia is described as unique. For 16 years, the peacekeeping forces served as a reliable buffer between the opposing sides and the only guarantee that hostilities would not resume amid the tense conditions of an unstable truce.
On 8 August 2008, it was the servicemen of the Russian and Ossetian peacekeeping battalions who became the first victims of the large-scale military operation launched by Georgia against South Ossetia. Regrettably, the Georgian peacekeeping battalion was among the Georgian aggressors, grossly violating international law and betraying its peacekeeping duty. The peacekeepers, who had honourably carried out their high mission of maintaining peace in South Ossetia for years and, despite their losses, did not abandon their post to the end, will forever remain in the grateful memory and hearts of the Ossetian people.
Today, by tradition, the Republic remembered the names of the fallen peacekeeping heroes. Memorial services were held in the Republic's churches for the fallen peacekeepers. A flower-laying ceremony took place at the Stela of Memory to the soldiers and officers of the peacekeeping forces, attended by the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Ossetia.
14 July 2026