South Ossetia has issued the first new passports to school leavers, Minister of Interior Affairs Valery Valiyev said, RES reports.
The minister explained that they need to provide applicants entering Russian higher education centers with passports.
Russian citizens living in South Ossetia may also receive such passports if they decide to take South Ossetian nationality.
Valiyev said that citizens of the Leningorsky District, mainly ethnic Georgians, will need to determine the new status of a citizen of South Ossetia.
Georgian forces attacked the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, on the night of August 8, 2008. Russia deployed troops and forced the Georgian forces out of the republic.
Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and the former Georgian autonomy of Abkhazia in late August 2008. In response, Tbilisi broke off all diplomatic relations with Moscow and proclaimed the two breakaway republics “occupied territories”.
