A number of criminal cases that have occurred on the territory of de facto South Ossetia in recent weeks have raised serious questions about the effectiveness of the de facto authorities in combating crime.

One of the disturbing cases occurred in April 2025, when the de facto chairman of the customs committee was attacked by armed individuals in his office. The armed attackers forced the chairman of the committee to sign contracts with certain individuals. The escalation of the situation was prevented by the quick response of the customs committee employees, although the attackers managed to flee. According to the reports spread via social media, the perpetrators may have connections with criminal circles and the brother of the de facto president.

After the attack, a large-scale special operation was launched in Tskhinvali, as a result of which 11 people were arrested. About 100 law enforcement officers participated in the special investigative operation.

The United Ossetia party responded to the attack, linking the worsening of the criminal situation to the appointment of Alan Gagloev as de facto president. The party published statistics confirming the worsening of the crime situation. United Ossetia also argued that these indicators likely did not fully reflect the real scale of the problem, which could be due to insufficient reporting by the ministry of internal affairs or deliberate concealment of criminal cases.

The de facto prosecutor ceneral of South Ossetia, Grigor Sobaev, tried to present the crime situation positively. In early May, he presented an activity report to the legislators of the de facto parliament and stated that in 2024, the crime rate in the region had decreased by 11.8%, while the crime detection rate had increased to 89%, with the felony detection rate increasing from 76% to 91%.

One of the facts confirming the deterioration of criminal situation was the leakage of an alleged letter from the Russian State Security Committee (KGB). A letter was published on social networks, which, allegedly, in July 2024, was sent by KGB Chairman Oleg Shirin to the de facto minister of internal affairs, Alan Guchmazov. The letter mentioned several criminal persons’ alleged possession of firearms and involvement in criminal activities, including the person allegedly participating in the attack on the chairman of the customs committee, and questioned the effectiveness of the work of the de facto law enforcement agencies. These individuals were mentioned in the letter as members of the “Thieves’ Ideology – Criminal Society of Prisoners,” which is considered an extremist group in Russia.

The scandal surrounding the leakage of the letter was compounded by the suspension of the powers of the first deputy chairman of the KGB, Alexander Tuayev. According to unconfirmed reports, his suspension was related to his patronage of an organized crime group and alleged involvement in the smuggling of fuel and lubricants, thus he misled the investigation by abusing power.

A letter published by the Russian Security Service reveals that the investigative measures taken by the de facto authorities are in some cases only formal and do not reflect tangible results. Concerns have been expressed on social networks that the de facto ministry of internal affairs may, with the government’s tacit consent, be deliberately hindering the fight against organized crime.

The current situation paints a disturbing picture of public order and criminal situation in the region, which puts the population living in the occupied territory in an even more difficult position.