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Dimitry Sanakoyev
Defense Minister of South Ossetia
In office 2000 – 2000
Primer Minister of South Ossetia
In office 2001 – 2001
Alternative de facto President of South Ossetia
In office December 1, 2006 – incumbent
Born	January 31, 1969 Tskhinvali, Georgia
Political party	none
Residence	Kurta

Dmitry Sanakoev (born in 1969) is a South Ossetian politician. He claims to serve as President of South Ossetia, a secessionist republic officially recognised as being part of Georgia, after winning alternative elections organised by the opposition to the de facto incumbent, Eduard Kokoity. He is recognised neither by the de facto government in Tskhinvali, the entity's capital, or by the international community at large, which does not recognise the existence of a South Ossetian government at all.

Sanakoyev fought on the Ossetian side during the Georgian-Ossetian conflict in the early 1990s. Later, he served as defense minister and then as prime minister for several months in 2001 under Kokoity's predecessor, Lyudvig Chibirov, but left South Ossetia for Moscow after Kokoity came to power.

On November 13, in a so-called "alternative" poll organized by The Salvation Union of South Ossetia in Georgian- and Ossetian villages not controlled by the separatists, Sanakoyev was declared the president-elect, with more than 80 percent of the vote. His campaign posters were prominently posted on walls outside polling stations in Georgian-controlled villages, benefited from extensive media coverage in the Georgian press. His election manifesto envisaged the restoration of the region's status as a republic within Georgia and a program of measures to spur economic growth.

At his November 13 press conference, Kokoity termed Sanakoyev and Karkusov, head of the alternative election commission and a former advisor to Kokoity, "traitors to their homeland and traitors to the South Ossetian people." The South Ossetian media launched a campaign to discredit and compromise Sanakoyev, accusing him of corruption, duplicity, and collaborating with Georgian intelligence.

In December 2006, Sanakoyev formed his government, choosing not to include the post of defense minister.^[1]

• Georgia: South Ossetia Seeks To Contain Opposition Challenge - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
• EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Georgia’s South Ossetia: One Unrecognized State, Two Unrecognized Governments
• South Ossetia Ripped in Two - Kommersant Moscow - Kommersant.