President of South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov appointed the former law enforcement officer Vladimir Pukhaev as Minister of Defense of the Republic.
Previously, Pukhaev ran for the post of head of state, but dropped out of the election race.
Anatoly Bibilov introduced the new head of the department to the Ministry of Defense on Monday.
"The goals and tasks facing the Ministry of Defense, before the personnel, do not change. I demand that special attention be paid to the combat training of personnel, military discipline, physical training. We must all understand that the armed forces are not the personal army of someone, the armed forces are the army of the people," the President said.
Vladimir Pukhaev, in turn, expressed gratitude to the head of state for the trust.
Further, the head of state held a meeting with the officers of the defense department.
It should be reminded that at the end of last week, Anatoly Bibilov said live on his Instagram channel that personnel decisions are expected next Monday.
Vladimir Pukhaev - a participant in the repulse of the Georgian aggression, was awarded the highest state award of South Ossetia - "Uatsamonga". Over the years, he was working in a number of law enforcement agencies of the Republic, including the Defense Ministry.
He is a graduate of the Frunze Academy in Moscow.
In addition, by the decree of the head of state, Viktor Fyodorov was released from the temporary duties of the Minister of Defense.
