A military parade was held in the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, on September 20, marking “declaration of independence” 20 years ago.

600 Ossetian servicemen and about 100 servicemen from the Russian military base deployed in the region participated in the parade.

About two dozen of armored vehicles, Akatsiya self-propelled artillery systems and T-72 battle tanks rolled on Tskhinvali’s main square,  attended by Sergey Mironov, chairman of Federal Council, Russia’s upper house of the Parliament.

Other guests, according to the local official news agency, included Abkhaz leader, Sergey Bagapsh, as well as leaders of several republics from Russia’s North Caucasus and a delegation from Nauru, a tiny Pacific island, which was the fourth country after Russia, Nicaragua and Venezuela, to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia in December, 2009.