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Abkhazia strengthens presence of Russian border guards

By Ernest Petrosyan
Friday, January 20
“International organizations which offer so-called “neutral” passports issued in Georgia will have to leave Abkhazia,” said the de-facto Abkhazian President Alexander Ankvab at a meeting with the puppet Foreign Ministry’s leadership on January 18.

“We will insist that all the trips organized by international organizations be implemented with only Abkhazian foreign passports,” noted Ankvab.

Meanwhile the Abkhazian de-facto regime jointly with Russian Security Service (FSB) continues to enhance border control, as apsnypress reports.

An apartment complex for the border guard forces of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and their families stationed in breakaway Abkhazia is being built in Sokhumi, after completion of which it will be the largest apartment complex for Russian border guards in Abkhazia.

So far Russia has built four settlements for its border guard units in the breakaway region, after signing the “on joint efforts in protecting Abkhaz state border” agreement with Sokhumi.

The largest of them is located in the village of Otobaia in the predominantly ethnic Georgian populated Gali district not far from the administrative border. The settlement with an area of about five hectares involves four-storey apartment buildings with a total of fifty flats for Russian border guards and their families.

According to Abkhaz officials, at the time of signing the border protection agreement, about 1,340 Russian border guards on top of Russian army troops would be stationed in the breakaway region.