TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s foreign ministry says Russia keeps on militarizing Georgia’s occupied regions, is deploying the newest offensive weapons and continues building military infrastructure.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that Russia is setting up an Ossetian battalion of the Russian army at a military base in the Tskhinvali region, also known as South Ossetia, a part of Georgia which became disputed after the Soviet Union broke up and is currently being occupied by Russia.

The so-called Ossetian battalion will be establised at the fourth base of the Russian occupation army. The battalion will consist of residents of the region and they will be given salary equal to those who serve in the Russian army through contracts.

“The Georgian occupied territories are transformed into a military base, in fact; the population remaining there is either serving the Russian military base or serves in the Russian occupation forces, an example of which is the establishment of the above mentioned so-called Ossetian Battalion,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry writes.

The statement also emphasizes that additional financial and material resources are allocated to strengthen the Russian occupation forces on the grounds of the fact that almost every day information is released about different types of accidents in Russia at military installations, including nuclear ones. Georgia’s Foreign Ministry writes that this creates a real danger to the Russian population primarily, but also for neighboring countries and for the entire world. The ministry calls for the international community to react to this issue.