Anatoly Ilyich Bibilov (; , ; born 6 February 1970) is a

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

, was the fourth

president of South Ossetia The president of the Republic of South Ossetia (, ) is the ''de facto'' head of state of the International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partially recognized South Ossetia, Republic of South Ossetia that is ''de jure'' part of Geor ...

. He succeeded

Leonid Tibilov Leonid Kharitonovich Tibilov (; ; ka, ლეონიდ თიბილოვი, Leonid Tibilovi; born 28 March 1951) is a South Ossetian politician who served as the third president of South Ossetia from 2012 to 2017 after winning the 2012 So ...

as president on 21 April 2017 to 24 May 2022, following his election victory, but was defeated by

Alan Gagloev Alan Eduardovich Gagloev (; ; born 6 February 1981), also transliterated as Gagloyev, is a South Ossetian politician and former intelligence officer, who is the fifth and current president of South Ossetia since 2022. He also served as chairman ...

in the 2022 election.

Biography

Bibilov was born in the

South Ossetian AO The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (; ka, სამხრეთ ოსეთის ავტონომიური ოლქი, tr; ) was an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union created within the Georgian SSR on April 20, 1922. It was an ...

of the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

.The new head of South Ossetia, Bibilov: From peacemaker to President
Chelorg, 10 April 2017. After eight grade he went to a boarding school in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

with intensive military and physical training, thereafter he joined the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School. After graduating, Bibilov was distributed to the

76th Guards Air Assault Division The 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Order of Suvorov Air Assault Division (; MUN 07264) is a division of the Russian Airborne Forces based in Pskov. The division traces its lineage back to the 76th Guards Rifle Division, formed in March 1943 f ...

. His division was included in the consolidated battalion of peacekeepers in South Ossetia. Subsequently he joined the

South Ossetian Army The Armed Forces of South Ossetia is the military of the partially recognised state of South Ossetia. It includes an Army and an Air Corps. The South Ossetian Army was formed in 1992, and is the primary defense force in the breakaway republic of ...

, commanding a special forces unit. Between the period 1998-2008 he rejoined the peacekeeping forces, this time in a

North Ossetia North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

battalion. Bibilov took an active part in the

Russo-Georgian War The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

, organizing the defence of one of the districts of Tskhinvali against the

Georgian Armed Forces The Defence Forces of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის ძალები, tr), or Georgian Defence Forces (GDF), are the combined military forces of Georgia, tasked with the defence of the nation's indep ...

Politics

In October 2008 he was appointed Minister of Emergency Situations of South Ossetia. Bibilov was the presidential candidate for the Unity Party in the South Ossetian presidential election, 2011. He won the first round, but lost the runoff to Alla Dzhioyeva. Soon however, the parliament of

declared the elections invalid.

was ultimately elected president after winning the South Ossetian presidential election, 2012, which Bibilov did not participate in. In June 2014 he was elected as the president of the parliament of South Ossetia. He is currently the head of the

United Ossetia United Ossetia (, ) is a political party in South Ossetia founded in 2012. In the 2014 parliamentary election it won 20 out of 34 seats, clearing the majority in the Parliament of South Ossetia, unseating the Unity Party from power. In the 2019 ...

party, which nominated him for their candidate to the

South Ossetian presidential election, 2017 Presidential elections were held in South Ossetia on 9 April 2017 alongside a referendum on changing the official name of the state to "Republic of South Ossetia–the State of Alania", or "South Ossetia–Alania" for short. Incumbent President L ...

. Bibilov won the election in the first round by getting 54.8% of the vote and took office as the 4th president of South Ossetia on 21 April 2017. During his inauguration, delegations from the

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Artsakh ( ), officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ( ), was a list of states with limited recognition, breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbai ...

, the

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

and

Lugansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administrative center of Luh ...

People's Republics and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

were present. Bibilov supports South Ossetia joining Russia, and has called for a referendum on the issue. One of the controversies of Bibilov's late tenure would be the Ministry of Construction's construction of a gym for the

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Tsinagari , native_name_lang = ru , settlement_type = Village , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_alt = , image_seal = , seal_alt ...

. The School's director, former Member of Parliament

Lasko Gussoev Lasko Gussoev is an Ossetian people, Ossetian politician from the partially recognized Republic of South Ossetia that served as a member of the Parliament of South Ossetia. Career At the age of 24 Gussoev was one of the youngest people to ever be ...

was able to bring the issue to national prominence stating that the Ministry of Construction built the gym, but did not install a transformer or other electoral components rendering the gym inoperable. It would take over 2 years of Gussoev's lobbying and significant media coverage before the gym was completed. Bibilov was defeated by

Alan Gagloyev Alan Eduardovich Gagloev (; ; born 6 February 1981), also transliterated as Gagloyev, is a South Ossetian politician and former intelligence officer, who is the fifth and current president of South Ossetia since 2022. He also served as chairman ...

in the 2022 election.

Cabinet

During his tenure as President, Bibilov's cabinet consisted of the following:

Sanctions

In September 2015, he was included in the sanctions list of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Bibilov was recognized as a person who creates "real and/or potential threats to national interests, national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine." Bibilov probably fell under this definition because of repeated visits to the unrecognized DPR and LPR, as well as to Crimea.

Awards

* Uatsamonga Order (2008, South Ossetia) *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

(1 September 2011, Russia) * Order of the Umayyads 1st Class (2018,

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

)

Personal life

He is married with four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bibilov, Anatoly 1970 births Living people Ossetian politicians People from Tskhinvali Russian military personnel Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School alumni South Ossetian military personnel South Ossetian independence activists Presidents of South Ossetia United Ossetia politicians