In separatist Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, traffic police officers stopped the Lexus of Anatoly Bibilov, the de-facto former President of separatist Tskhinvali Region, with symbolic numbers with the symbol Z [indicator of support for Russia in its war against Ukraine] and the indication of South Ossetia, RSO. The incident led to controversy in social networks between resources run by supporters of the former president and those dissatisfied with the fact that the police released Bibilov, who was moving around Tskhinvali without a registration plate.

Anonymous sources reported that the stop and check of a vehicle without license plates by the traffic police allegedly indicates that the de-facto authorities of the separatist region thus expressed their negative attitude towards the special military operation conducted by Russia in Ukraine.

Valery Gazzaev, the Minister of Internal Affairs of South Ossetia, commented on the situation. "The vehicle moved around the city for several days with registration plates from an unidentified sample. The registration plates did not correspond to the established pattern, in accordance with which it was decided to stop the vehicle and check the registration certificate and the compliance of the license plates," the de-facto minister said. According to him, the person moving on this vehicle, as it turned out, is a special subject and has immunity, so it was decided not to prevent his further movement. The minister also noted that when making a decision to stop the vehicle, the employees of the State traffic inspectorate counted on the higher level of legal awareness of a person who recently held a high position, but, unfortunately, they did not find understanding.