Ukraine war: Russia plans naval base on Black Sea coast of breakaway Georgia region, report says

Russia has signed a deal for a permanent naval base on the Black Sea coast of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, its leader was quoted on Thursday as saying by the Izvestiya newspaper, a day after he met President Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, based in Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian forces since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Aslan Bzhania, the self-styled president of Russian-backed Abkhazia, said an agreement had been signed for a permanent naval base in the Ochamchira region.

“We have signed an agreement, and in the near future there will be a permanent base of the Russian Navy in the Ochamchira district,” Bzhania told Izvestiya.

“This is all aimed at increasing the level of defence capability of both Russia and Abkhazia, and this kind of interaction will continue,” he said. “There are also things I can’t talk about.”

Russia made no immediate comment.

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Russia recognised Abkhazia and another breakaway region, South Ossetia, as independent states in 2008 after Russian troops repelled a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia in a five-day war which ended on August 12, 2008.

The West accused Russia of effectively annexing Abkhazia and South Ossetia and when talk surfaced in 2009 of a Russian base in Ochamchira, the Nato military alliance expressed concern.

Three of the Black Sea littoral states are Nato members – Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.

Most of the world recognises Abkhazia as part of Georgia. Besides Russia, only Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria have recognised Abkhazia as independent.

The news of the Russian base at Ochamchira, where the Soviet Union had a naval base, could indicate Russia is seeking alternatives to Sevastopol while also expanding its military presence down the Black Sea coast towards Turkey.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia had withdrawn the bulk of its Black Sea Fleet from its main base in annexed Crimea due to Ukrainian attacks.

Attacks on a dry dock damaged a landing ship and a submarine in early September, among other targets.

Ukrainian officials have suggested at least some of the attacks in Crimea have used the Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles provided by the UK and France, some of the longest-range weapons in Ukraine’s current arsenal.

At his meeting with Bzhania on Wednesday, Putin did not say anything about a naval base. But Bzhania did say that he wanted to participate in “the integration processes initiated by the Russian side”.

Meanwhile on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in the Spanish city of Granada for a summit bringing together leaders from almost 50 European countries.

Ukraine says Russian naval vessels badly damaged in Crimea attack

The visit comes as Zelensky lobbies his Western allies for more military aid and air defence systems ahead of what officials warn could be intensified Russian strikes over the winter.

“Granada, Spain. Summit of the European Political Community. We will work in joint formats and have important bilateral meetings,” Zelensky said in a social media post.

“The key for us, especially before the winter, is to strengthen air defence, and we already have the basis for new agreements with our partners. We are preparing to confirm and implement them,” he said.

Russia has also ramped up attacks on Ukraine’s ports since exiting a deal allowing safe passage of shipments through the Black Sea.

Since Russia withdrew from the deal, Ukraine has been testing a new sea route and hopes to resume regular exports on the Black Sea.

“Special attention should be paid to the Black Sea region and to working together for global food security and the protection of freedom of navigation,” Zelensky said.

The European Political Community was first proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, bringing together European Union members and non-EU countries in a wider forum.

The beginning of the summit has been overshadowed this year by tensions between members Armenia and Azerbaijan, whose President Ilham Aliyev turned down a meeting with Armenian leader Nikol Pashinyan.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg