On 4 April 2016, Leonid Tibilov, the declared President of the internationally unrecognised state of South Ossetia, stated he would hold a referendum this year in autumn, on making it possible for South Ossetia to join the Russian Federation. At the same time he also stated South Ossetia military forces could be enlisted in Russian units, following an early alliance treaty between Russia and South Ossetia, that was agreed on last year. The move follows an earlier announcement in February to do so, and was done after consultations with President Vladimir Putin of Russia which were held days earlier. 

The break-away region already declared independence in 1992 and Georgia effectively lost the remainder of its control over the region after the Georgia-Russia war of 2008, when Russian troops drove out Georgian forces in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, while invading and bombing other parts of Georgia as well, following attempts by Georgia to reinstate control over the region.

South Ossetia is considered as one of the post-Soviet "frozen conflicts", alongside Abkhazia, Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh, the latter which endured a short four day war recently, flaring up the conflict. Furthermore, it could be said that the Crimea and especially the Donbass region in Ukraine could be added to this list, following Russia’s military actions in 2014. None of these entities have internationally recognised statehood, and are deemed illegal. Although Russia's involvement varies per frozen conflict, they are useful for Russia in pursuing its strategic interests. 

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For more on South Ossetia, click here, here and here.
For more on frozen conflicts click here, here and here.