In the late 1980s with the advent of perestroika and glasnost under Mikhail Gorbechev tensions rose between the Ossetians and Georgians, with the Ossetians pushing for full ASSR status. As tensions rose there violent clashes between Georgians and Ossetians in Tshkhinvali in late 1989. In December 1990 Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia abolished South Ossetia’s autonomous status, sparking the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. Meanwhile Georgia declared its independence in April 1991. After fierce fighting and some 1,000-2,000 deaths a ceasefire was signed in 1992, leaving the territory of the former South Ossetia AO divided between Ossetian and Georgian held areas.