Under the cover of the conflict against Ukraine, Russia could recover an old project to expand its naval bases in the Black Sea or, if the case came, take its headquarters from Sevastopol, on the annexed Crimean peninsula. For now, the Russian Black Sea fleet will have a new permanent base in the self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia, a rebel province of Georgia that only Russia and a handful of countries recognize as an independent state. The corresponding agreement has already been signed, assured the president of this territory, Aslan Bjània, in an interview published yesterday Thursday by the newspaper Izvéstia.
The leader made this statement the day after meeting with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin, however, did not comment and its spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, referred to the Ministry of Defense. “We have signed an agreement and in the near future in the bay of Otxamtxira we will have a permanent location point for the Russian Navy”, assured Bjània. In the first decade of this century, Otshamtxira was used as a joint base for civilian and military ships of the Navy of Abkhazia.
In January 2009 those facilities were transferred to Russia. Then consideration was given to building a base for the Black Sea Fleet, but the idea did not prosper. In addition to its headquarters in Sevastopol, it has naval bases in the city of Feodosia and Lake Donuzlav (both in Crimea), and in Novorossisk (in Krasnodar Krai, southern Russia). Currently, patrol boats and ships of the Russian FSB coast guard operate in Otshamtxira. It is 60 kilometers from Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia.
Moscow recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries in 2008, after a five-day war in which Russian troops repelled an attempt by Georgia to forcefully retake South Ossetia, which it was living behind to the authorities in Tbilisi since the war of the nineties. Georgia considers these provinces as its own. And it is the position held by the majority of the international community and the UN. In addition to Russia, the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has only been recognized by Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria.
News of the development of a naval base in Otskhamchira could indicate that Moscow is looking for alternatives to Sevastopol, where the Russian Black Sea fleet is headquartered. This port, on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, has been a permanent target of Ukrainian forces since Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to intervene militarily in Ukraine in February 2022.
At the same time as Bjania’s interview with Izvestia, The Wall Street Journal published that Russia has withdrawn most of its Black Sea fleet from Sevastopol due to the Ukrainian attacks. When reporters asked Peskov about this issue yesterday, he replied that he would not comment further except to indicate that questions about naval maneuvers should be addressed to the Ministry of Defense.
