Russia builds new military base in Abkhazia, Georgian spokesman says

Tbilisi/Agency Caucasus – has been building a new military base in Abkhazia, claimed Tornik Kilanav, Georgian spokesman for the Abkhazian government in exile in

Upper Kodor .

The Russian army has been building its new military base in the Agubediya village of Ochamchira district, argued Kilanav. The army of located various items of military equipment, including tanks, in its base, according to Kilanav. He further argued that a system of aerial defence was set up in Agubediya, a village which Kilanav said was strategically important because it allowed members of the Russian army in its military base here to check-ins and check-outs in both upper and lower Gal.     

Kilanav’s claims, however, met with immediate refutation from the Russian administration. 

Col. Aleksandr Drobishevski, spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defence, dismissed Kilanav’s arguments as untruthful. “The claims that a new military base was built up in an Abkhazian district are simply newfangled items of provocative news fabricated with a view towards bringing into disrepute the efforts by the peacekeeping forces in the zone of conflict.”    

Russian troops skilled in railway construction were sent on May 30-31 to Abkhazia to reconstruct the railways of Abkhazia so that stuff could be delivered to sites of construction far ahead of the Olympic games to be held in Sochi in 2014; however, Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia, claimed at the time that Russia laid the groundwork for supplying heavy utilities of military support through railway transportation. He also said that ’s ultimate aim was to annex Abkhazia. ÖZ/F