Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia sets vote to join Russia

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — The leader of the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia has announced that a referendum will be held in July on joining Russia. Russia has exercised effective control over the region since fighting a brief war with Georgia in 2008. South Ossetian leader Anatoly Bibilov wrote “We did it!” on Telegram on Friday in announcing that he had signed a decree setting the referendum for July 17. He said: “In legalese, we fulfilled yet another important legal requirement. And in normal language, we took a life-changing step — we are going home, we are going to Russia.”