On June 23, South Ossetian head Alan Gagloev accepted Vladimir Putin's offer to serve as his advisor. According to the constitutional provisions, the interim leadership of South Ossetia will be transferred to Marat Kambolov, Chairman of the Republic's Government.

From 2014 to 2026, Kambolov held leading positions at the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center (NRC). On May 27, 2026, he was appointed advisor to Alan Gagloev. Kambolov was tasked with overseeing the implementation of the agreement signed in Moscow on May 9 to deepen the allied cooperation between South Ossetia and Russia. On June 16, the South Ossetian parliament approved Marat Kambolov's candidacy for the post of Chairman of the Republic's Government.

Mikhail Kovalchuk is the President of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center. Brothers Mikhail and Yuri Kovalchuk are members of Vladimir Putin's inner circle and exert significant influence on Russian politics.

A Meduza source close to the Russian presidential administration mentioned in 2022 a plan being developed in the Kremlin for the de facto annexation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to Russia or to a union state (Russia and Belarus). He believed such a move could demonstrate "territorial successes" to the Russians following the withdrawal of troops from some Ukrainian regions.
However, according to Meduza, this scenario was not discussed for long. A divergent public sentiment posed an obstacle: in Ossetia, the idea of ​​integration was supported by the majority, while in Abkhazia, it was rejected. Ultimately, the annexation of Ossetia alone was deemed insufficiently significant. An expert familiar with the political situation in South Ossetia described the republic as a "gray zone where money laundering schemes thrive," which was the reason for its rejection.

"It appears the 'mini-USSR' project is being discussed again," a political strategist involved in the election campaign in Ossetia shared his thoughts in an interview with Meduza.

Earlier, the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the signing of the May 9 agreement on deepening the allied relationship between South Ossetia and Russia. Tbilisi called it another illegal step aimed at the de facto annexation of the occupied region and a gross violation of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

At the same time, the Kremlin has not officially confirmed any connection between the recent personnel changes in South Ossetia and a possible change in the republic's status. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, responding to journalists' questions about whether the change in South Ossetia's leadership could be linked to its possible annexation by Russia, stated, "No, it cannot."