GEORGIA: RUSSIA PLANS THREE MILITARY BASES IN ABKHAZIA
2/06/09
A EurasiaNet commentary by Ariel Cohen
Back in 1991, it may be recalled, Soviet troops attempted a crackdown in the Baltic state of Lithuania on the very day that US military forces opened its aerial bombing campaign during the first Iraq War. Now, Moscow is at it again, striving to act while Washington seems preoccupied. At a time when US troops are gearing up for a surge in Afghanistan, and while a controversy is continuing over the fate of a US air base in Kyrgyzstan, the Kremlin seems to be harboring mischievous plans for the Black Sea and Caucasus.
Reports in Russian media outlets over the past few weeks indicate that Moscow plans to establish a Black Sea naval base in the Abkhaz port of Ochamchire. In addition, Moscow intends to restore the former Soviet airbase -- Bombora -- in the Gudauta area of Abkhazia.
Ochamchire is some 60 kilometers south-east of the Abkhaz capital of Sukhumi, near the ceasefire line established in the aftermath of the last August’s war with Georgia. When stationed there, Russian ships would essentially control the Georgian territorial waters all the way to the Turkish border.
The Georgian ports of Poti and Batumi would be within easy striking distance from the planned base in Ochamchire, giving Russia a chip with which it could intimidate Georgia for years to come.
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