Abkhazian field commander not allowed out of Donbass; blames President of Abkhazia
Akhra Avidzba not allowed to leave Donbass
Akhra Avidzba, the commander of the international brigade “Pyatnashka”, operating in eastern Ukraine on the side of Russia, was prevented from leave the “Donetsk People’s Republic” by border guards when he tried to escort a wounded soldier to a Moscow clinic.
In a video message, Avidzba notes the absurdity of the situation, since he is not even a citizen of the DPR. He claims to know who is behind the refusal to let him out of the DPR.
“We send big heartfelt greetings to the interim president of the Republic of Abkhazia,” the Pyatnashka commander says, claiming that he will still reach Abkhazia.
Akhra Avidzba is a close relative of the well-known Abkhaz criminal Alkhaz Avidzba, who was killed in a notorious shooting at a restaurant in Sukhum in November 2019.
Since 2014, Akhra Avidzba has been fighting in eastern Ukraine on the side of the regions that unilaterally declared their independence from Kyiv, and is known in Abkhazia as the “Hero of Donbass” with the call sign “Abkhaz”.
In the past, Akhra Avidzba contributed to the coming to power of the current president of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhaniya. In January 2020, a group of oppositionists led by Avidzba, numbering about two hundred, stormed the presidential palace in Sukhum and forced President Raul Khajimba to resign early.
Aslan Bzhaniya, who replaced Khajimba, rewarded the field commander with a high position, appointing him as his adviser. However, the alliance was short-lived. A few months later, Akhra Avidzba, believing that Aslan Bzhaniya had no intention of carrying out a reform program promised during the pre-election period, resigned.
On March 4, 2021, Avidzba was arrested after interrogation by the state security service. The authorities accused him of illegal possession of weapons. Avidzbe faced two to six years in prison. In the end, the court sentenced him to three years in prison, and two years suspended. Thereafter Avidzba returned to Donbass.
In August of this year, when a scandal erupted in Abkhazia over the transfer of the Pitsunda estate, Akhra Avidzba spoke out against this act in a video message.
This may be among the reasons for Avidzba not being allowed out of the DPR.
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Akhra Avidzba not allowed to leave Donbass
