The border between South Ossetia and Russia was Tuesday following a grenade attack on the home of the breakaway region's prosecutor and a decision to throw out a court appeal by Alla Dzhioyeva to overturn the cancellation of her apparent election victory.
The border closing was done temporarily "in connection with the political situation in the republic and to prevent any kind of provocation," Interfax reported, citing an unidentified local official.
Another official RIA-Novosti, however, that the road between North and South Ossetia was closed due to the high risk of an avalanche on the snow-bound mountain pass linking the two territories.
The move came after a grenade was fired at the home of prosecutor Taimuraz Khugayev early Tuesday in Tskhinvali. No one was hurt.
"We are standing peacefully in the square, and this kind of development is not in our interest," Dzhioyeva said, according to RIA-Novosti. She blamed the incident on security forces, saying they were attempting to undermine the situation in the breakaway territory.
Dzhioyeva spoke after leaving the top court, where she had attempted to withdraw a petition to overturn a lower tossing out the results of a late November run-off election that gave her a decisive victory.
A new election has been called, but Dzhioyeva has been barred from participating over what officials called violations.