Russian naval base in Abkhazia: "This is a guarantor of security, and the decision was not made today"

Russian naval base in Abkhazia

A permanent stationing point of the Russian Navy will be established in the town of Ochamchira in Abkhazia, as revealed in today’s interview of Abkhazian President Aslan Bzhania with the Russian newspaper Izvestia. But, according to the Secretary of the Security Council of Abkhazia Sergei Shamba, an agreement in this regard was reached long ago, and at yesterday’s meeting of Bzhania and Vladimir Putin, as it may seem.

“This agreement was not reached today, it was decided at previous joint meetings, and now, at this meeting, the president confirmed that we support such a decision. For Abkhazia, this is the fulfillment of allied agreements with the Russian Federation,” Shambra told the Apsny iakhya news portal.

According to him, the Abkhazian authorities consider the presence of Russian land and sea units on the territory of the republic as a guarantor of security:

“In case of aggression we can count on the support of our ally and strategic partner. This is directly written in the agreement we signed.”

Since 2017, the site allocated for the base has been home to a stationing point for coast guard patrol ships of the Russian Federal Security Service’s Border Guard Service.

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Editor of JAMnews and the Abkhazian newspaper Chegemskaya Pravda Inal Khashig believes that this will be a small base that will not cause inconvenience to the local population and will not cause negative reactions:

“Most likely, it will be a basing point for a small number of Russian navy ships. To say that almost the entire Black Sea Fleet, which is currently based in Sevastopol, will be moved here is silly. The base in Ochamchira is small, and there is nowhere to expand it.

As for public sentiment, I do not think that this will somehow irritate the local community, as presence of Russian bases in Abkhazia has long been perceived by the local population as a guarantee of protection from a new war with Georgia.”

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