Russia to open naval base in breakaway Abkhazia region of Georgia

Moscow will open a naval base in Abkhazia, a breakaway region in Georgia that is home to Russian troops, after the Kremlin was forced to begin moving its Black Sea fleet away from occupied Crimea following a series of devastating Ukrainian missile attacks.

Aslan Bzhania, the pro-Moscow head of the breakaway region, said that Russia would establish a base in the territory’s Ochamchira region on the east coast of the Black Sea. The area was previously home to a Soviet naval base. His comments came after he met President Putin for talks in Moscow.

“This is all aimed at increasing the level of defence capability of both Russia and Abkhazia, and this kind of interaction will continue,” he told Russia’s Izvestiya newspaper, indicating that the

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