Taklama

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

Grenade attack mars Chuburxinji by-election in Abkhazia

After the death of People's Assembly member Yuri Kereselidze on November the 1st, the resulting by-election for the Chuburxinji constituency was held Sunday the 9th of January. It was won by Ruslan Kishmaria, the President's special representative for the Gali district. Kishmaria has long been seen as a moderate figure …

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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 …

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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 …

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