Georgian president denounces Russian plan for naval base in breakaway region

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on Tuesday condemned a reported Russian plan to set up a navy base in the breakaway Abkhazia region as a threat to security in the Black Sea, Kyiv Post reports.

Last October, Abkhazian separatist leader Aslan Bzhania said he had signed an agreement with Russia to establish a Russian naval base in the Black Sea town of Ochamchira 'in the near future', as Ukraine stepped up attacks on Moscow's Black Sea fleet.

“Russia’s plan to transform the Ochamchira port into its navy base is aimed at shifting the confrontation into the Black Sea, into our territorial waters, and at creating a threat to the strategic perspective of the Black Sea,” Zurabishvili said during an address to parliament on February 6.

Zurabishvili - who has repeatedly clashed with the Georgian government and accused it of being too close to Moscow - also warned Russia had “begun fresh attacks in its hybrid war on Georgia.”

Her role is largely ceremonial, though she has been a staunch backer of Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Ochamchire is a seaside town located near Georgia’s key maritime location of Anaklia on the Black Sea. It has been a base for Russian patrol vessels operating in the Black Sea since 2009.

Ochamchire port is too shallow to receive major ships and transforming it into a significant naval base would require massive renovation of its obsolete infrastructure.

Ukraine’s defence intelligence service said in October that Russia was actively “reconstructing the (Ochamchira) port infrastructure in some places to ensure that warships can be based there.”

Despite its stalled counter-offensive on the land, Ukraine has had more success fighting Russia in the Black Sea, sinking several Russian warships and being able to operate an export corridor for commercial ships along its southern coast.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the Russian navy “is no longer capable of operating in the western part of the Black Sea and is gradually retreating from Crimea.”

Ukraine last year struck the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet on the annexed Crimean peninsula in a missile attack, marking a major blow for Moscow.