South Ossetia fought a civil war with Georgia and won. I think the South Ossetians have something to say about whether or not they are a part of Georgia. They want Russia to help them maintain their independence from Georgia. If they want Russia to remain in South Ossetia for this purpose, that's their right. Nobody has a right to force them to remain a part of Georgia if they don't want to, any more than Russia had a right to force Georgia to remain a part of Russia.

People who deny the right of South Ossetia to break away from Georgia, but who uphold Georgia's right to break away from Russia are engaging in hypocrisy.