Taklama

Analysis, book reviews and photography from Abkhazia and the wider Caucasus --- updates when time permits

Abkhazian Army Purge? - part 3

In April 2010, the 'retirement' of no less than 5 Abkhazian Deputy Ministers of Defence, including Chief of the General Staff Anatoli Zaitsev, sparked speculation that this was in fact a purge-in-process. The question was, if so, then what kind of purge? If Zaitsev (despatched from the Russian Army) had …

Read the rest of this entry

Abkhazian Army Purge? - Part 2

When a large number of senior members of the Abkhazian military was sent into retirement late April, this caused some speculation as to whether this wasn't in reality a purge, and if so, whom this purge was directed against. One option was that Minister of Defence Mirab Kishmaria had removed …

Read the rest of this entry

Abkhazian Army Purge?

On the 29th of April, Abkhazian Minister of Defence Mirab Kishmaria announced during a press conference that a number of very high ranking officers of the Abkhazian army had been dismissed from active service into the reserve forces. The list includes Col. Gen. Anatoli Zaitsev, who is Chief of the …

Read the rest of this entry