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2023-10-07 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
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This is not about Ukraine. Why did the Navy need a base in Abkhaz Ochamchira
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] The Russian Black Sea Fleet will receive a new base. As the President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania announced on October 5 , the government of the republic agreed with Russia on the creation of a naval base in the Ochamchira region.
The basing of ships of the Russian Navy is provided for by the agreement between Abkhazia and Russia on a joint Russian military base on the territory of the republic, Secretary of the Security Council of Abkhazia Sergei Shamba clarified in a comment to TASS .
The day before the announcement of the agreement with Moscow, Bzhania met with Russian President Vladimir Putin . Earlier, at the end of August, joint exercises between the Abkhaz and Russian military took place. On September 30, Abkhazia’s Independence Day, as Bzhania said in an interview with Izvestia , “a small rocket ship came to us, we boarded it - a very modern ship with serious combat capabilities.”
The Georgian Foreign Ministry released a statement in which it “expressed concern” that the “Russian occupation regime in Sukhumi” gave the go-ahead for the deployment of “an additional Russian military base in the occupied territories of Georgia and the inclusion of the integral Abkhaz region of Georgia in the integration processes initiated by Russia.”
WHY OCHAMCHIRA
Ochamchira Bay is suitable for deploying warships, but first of all it is necessary for creating an early warning system, deploying air defense and coastal defense systems covering Novorossiysk, military expert Alexander Artamonov explained to Regnum news agency.
Plans to create a naval base in Ochamchira were first announced in 2009. It was assumed that a reserve fleet base could be deployed in the harbor. Today, a brigade of patrol ships of the Coast Guard of the Border Service of the FSB of Russia has been deployed in the region. Also in Abkhazia there is the 7th joint base of the Russian army, which, together with the armed forces of the republic, ensures the security of the border with Georgia.
Thus, the Black Sea Fleet finds itself stretched across two “fronts” at once - Ukrainian and Transcaucasian. However, there are no alternative ways to protect Russia's southern borders.
What is the main point of Ukraine's missile strike on Sevastopol?
“The point is not whether the Black Sea Fleet is suitable for solving these problems or not. There is a need,” the expert noted. — The opportunity to create a base in Abkhazia has always been there, but now it is exactly what is needed. We are interested in monitoring NATO's actions and early warning capabilities. And here you should not take into account financial costs and other possible difficulties.”
The new base could significantly expand the operational capabilities of the Russian fleet, especially as NATO gradually deploys additional forces in the Black Sea.
In September of this year, the Bulgarian authorities announced the start of work on the creation of a new NATO naval base on its territory. At the same time, the main bases of the Black Sea Fleet are concentrated in Crimea, which remains within range of attacks from Ukraine. On the coastline from Novorossiysk to Sukhumi, the Russian fleet does not have large bases, which makes this area vulnerable to attacks from the sea.
The creation of a base in Abkhazia should be a response to the alliance’s activity in the Black Sea.
“They say that the Black Sea Fleet does not have the resources to solve such problems. The Black Sea Fleet has a little over 60 thousand ships in terms of total tonnage. Turkish Navy - 80 thousand in tonnage. But these statistics do not take into account submarines, and in our country submarines of the Lada and Varshavyanka projects are present in the Black Sea, right in the Abkhazia region. Therefore, the base in Abkhazia will make it possible to make maximum use of the fleet’s capabilities ,” notes Artamonov.
IT'S NOT ABOUT UKRAINE
A number of Western publications hastened to link the creation of a base in Abkhazia with the fact that Russia allegedly intends to leave the main base of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. It is noted that previously Russian naval bases in Crimea and Novorossiysk became targets for attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which use cruise missiles, sea and air drones of various models. Following this logic, Russian ships are forced to “hide” in Transcaucasia from attacks by Ukrainian drones.
The emergence of a new Black Sea Fleet base in Abkhazia is not at all connected with the situation in Ukraine, Artamonov believes.
According to the specialist, after the end of the military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, the balance of power in Transcaucasia changed significantly. What forces the military and political leadership of Russia to strengthen the defense of the country’s southern borders.
“Today, in fact, there is no sovereign independent Georgia or sovereign Azerbaijan. And there probably won’t be a sovereign Armenia in the near future either,” the expert emphasized. “ There is a single Transcaucasian NATO zone, a single army according to NATO standards, which has entered the territory of the South Caucasus. And this needs to be responded to.”
According to Artamonov, in recent years a single Turkey-Georgia-Azerbaijan bloc has formed in Transcaucasia, which is oriented toward cooperation with NATO. At the same time, the US Army is strengthening its position in the region, gradually expanding its military bases and creating new ones.
Thus, in the Georgian port of Poti, an American system of coastal missile batteries has already been deployed, which, in terms of total power, approximately corresponds to the Russian Bal complexes in Crimea, the expert believes.
“The system of these batteries covers not only the entire eastern Black Sea region, but is also capable of hitting Crimea,” notes Artamonov. “In addition, two companies of M1A1 Abrams tanks are based there. A large NATO logistics center has been created in Vaziani. A tracking system has been deployed in Batumi that covers the entire Black Sea water area, and warehouses have been created for storing chemical warfare agents. Based on this, Georgia can be considered an outpost of the United States in the region.”
In addition, the United States plans to create a naval base in close proximity to the borders of Abkhazia - in the port of Anaklia. Since the time of Eduard Shevardnadze , the US military on Georgian territory has the broadest rights to move its units without notifying the Georgian government and parliament, which expands their capabilities in the region.
Georgia itself does not abandon revanchist plans to seize South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Since 2008, Georgia has hosted joint exercises with the armed forces of Turkey and Azerbaijan six times. Tens of thousands of military personnel are taking part in the exercises, which are taking place on the border with South Ossetia.
In the current conditions, Russia’s main task is to protect the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and in a broad sense, the entire Caucasian border.
“We can talk about the opening of a new theater of military operations. We lost Karabakh. After all, war is not about killing soldiers; first of all, it is about achieving results and goals. NATO bloodlessly recaptured the bridgehead from us, and soon Alliance forces will appear in Karabakh. And here we need to think about protecting our interests in the region,” says Artamonov.
The liquidation of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is also accompanied by a serious change in the situation in Armenia and a change in the country’s foreign policy course. The government of the republic is gradually taking an increasingly anti-Russian position, curtailing cooperation with the CSTO and establishing military ties with the United States.
On October 6, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Vladimir Zelensky for the first time . According to the Ukrainian leader, during the meeting the “security situation in the South Caucasus” and a number of other issues were discussed.
Previously, relations between Kiev and Yerevan were at an extremely low level due to the allegedly “pro-Russian position” of the Armenian authorities. The meeting between Pashinyan and Zelensky, therefore, may mean a change in the vector of Armenian politics.
Pashinyan’s further actions as Prime Minister of Armenia could lead to the dismantling of the Russian 102nd military base stationed in Gyumri and Erebuni, experts say. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States was “pressuring” Yerevan, demanding that it abandon the deployment of Russian military personnel on its territory.
The current situation requires the creation of new military bases in Transcaucasia, including by the Black Sea Fleet, Artamonov sums up.
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