A Russian naval facility in Abkhazia, a separatist province internationally recognized as part of Georgia, could open in 2024, according to Abkhazia’s Security Council.
According to reports, Russian and Abkhazian authorities agreed in October to establish a permanent naval facility in the town of Ochamchire.
Sergei Shamba, secretary of Abkhazia’s Security Council, stated that building of the base had not yet commenced, but that “its operation may begin this year.”
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A base in Ochamchire, a town of 5,000 near Abkhazia’s closed frontier with Georgia, would provide a new, more secure harbour for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet after its bases in Crimea came under repeated, damaging attack by Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of that country.
Abkhazia enjoyed extensive Russian support in a series of wars it fought to secede from Georgia in the 1990s and again in 2008, and Russian forces have long been stationed in the Caucasus territory.
Georgia, which regards Abkhazia as its territory, has condemned the Russian plans as a violation of its sovereignty.
