Tunnel connecting South Ossetia with Russia reopens
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 5 November 2014 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Tunnel connecting South Ossetia with Russia reopens, 5 November 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/548ea83b15.html [accessed 19 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
November 05, 2014
A strategic 3.7-kilometer tunnel connecting Russia with Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia has reopened after reconstruction.
South Ossetia's de facto President Leonid Tibilov said on November 5 that the reconstruction of the Roksky Tunnel "will strengthen South Ossetia's relations with its strategic partner, Russia."
He called the tunnel, built in 1984, "a road of life."
Russian Transport Ministry has said the reconstruction, which started in 2010, had cost Moscow more than $400 million.
The tunnel is the only route linking South Ossetia with Russia's North Ossetia, as all other segments of the Georgian-Russian border have been closed since a five-day war between Georgia and Russia in August 2008.
Russia has recognized South Ossetia and Georgia's other breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states and kept military forces in both regions.
Based on reporting by RIA-Novosti and TASS
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
