Where is South Ossetia, and why does it want to join Russia?

Russia’s war in Ukraine has rattled Europe, revived the NATO military alliance and helped rekindle conflicts from the post-Soviet era, including in places such as Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory at the center of tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

It has also stirred pro-Russian sentiment in South Ossetia, a breakaway region in Georgia whose independence Moscow recognized in 2008. South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov announced Friday that the separatist state would hold a referendum on joining Russia on July 17.