to fred

One source:

http://books.google.com/books?id=hEFJ0sGr6e8C&pg=PA102&dq=Chechnya:+,+Tombstone&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0&sig=ACfU3U3k5zCWMzV4FjclSvraLHc1yJLVsg#PPA72,M1

p 72

…, the Ossetes have always been Russia’s most loyal ally in the Caucasus; they are closely allied with the local Russian Cossacks; they provided a disproportionate number of officers, and especially senior officers to the Soviet army (and claim to have won more decorations as Hero of the Soviet Union, the highest Soviet award for valor, proportionate to there numbers than any other Soviet people); …

So they may well have a special claim on Russian protection and loyalty.