Abstract: The subject of this research is the conflict situation in South Ossetia in 1989-1991, while the object of research is the policy and activity of the South-Ossetian movement "Adamon Nykhas". The author examines in detail such aspects of the subject as the ethnic composition of the area at the time of the tension escalation, the driving forces of the Ossetian national movement, and also the battle tactics for achieving the goals set by the leaders of "Adamon Nykhas". Special attention is paid to the ideological component in the rhetoric of the movement, as well as to studying the situation without touching upon the questions concerning Ossetian war, a more traditional subject in historiography. The methodological basis of this research is the comparative-historical approaches within the framework of which the activity of the movement "Adamon Nykhas" is investigated at different stages of the development of the ethnopolitical situation. The main conclusions of the conducted research are the following two main consequences: first, despite the difficult economic, political and humanitarian situation in the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast, the movement consistently pursued the aim to consolidate society in the aspiration to assert the rights of the autonomous region. Secondly, to overcome the information vacuum in the policy of the leadership of the USSR regarding the South Ossetia question, seeking not to allow the spread of chauvinistic sentiments in the region. The article's particular contribution to the study of this subject is the possibility of using the presented material when developing courses in the field of conflictology and ethnopsychology. In its turn, the novelty of this research lies in that the study of the activity of "Adamon Nykhas" remains a very little studied page in the history of the Georgian-Ossetian question.