Officials deny Russian interior minister’s visit to Tskhinvali

A spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry, Valery Gribakin, has denied information about Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev’s visit to Tskhinvali, RIA Novosti reports.

Georgian media reported that Nurgaliyev would visit Tskhinvali to stop disorders caused by refusal of the Central Electoral Commission of South Ossetia to register Dzambolat Tedeyev, Chief Coach of the Russian national free wrestling team, as candidate for president.

The spokesman said that the minister visited Kazan on October 1, where he met police staff and attended a ceremony for police sportsmen. Nurgaliyev will visit North Ossetia-Alania on October 2 to view police reforms. He will attend a meeting of the Russian and Azerbaijani Interior Ministers today and tomorrow, spokesman Gribakin said.