TBILISI, DFWatch–More than 700 people were detained on charges of crossing the de facto border between Abkhazia and Georgia in 2023, states security service of the breakaway Abkhazia. Most of them were punished administratively, and criminal prosecution was started against 15. According to the Sokhumi regime government, only 30 of these “crimes” are related to … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch – De facto authorities of breakaway Abkhazia are ready to revive the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) discussions, Sokhumi regime deputy foreign minister Irakli Tuzhba said during the video conference with Russian and South Ossetian colleagues Tuesday. “The Abkhaz side has prepared another package of proposals to unfreeze the MPRI format. I hope … Read more
The pro-EU protests in Tbilisi, which forced the government to kill the highly controversial bill on “foreign agents”, have triggered a natural hysteria in occupied Abkhazia, where the narrative has stubbornly been spread as if the West is forcing Tbilisi to open a “second front”. As a climax of this hysteria, the military forces of … Read more
GALI, DFWatch–Gali residents demand the opening of the checkpoint on Enguri Bridge and the lifting of the five-day quarantine for travelers that have been tested for Covid-19. Locals told DFWatch that because of the quarantine requirement, many people have resorted to a dangerous route, wading through the surging Enguri river at the so-called black crossing, … Read more
GALI, DFwatch–In the village of Tagiloni in the Gali district of breakaway Abkhazia, there has been an explosion of cases of an illness locals suspect to be Covid-19, following a burial feast held ten days ago. Locals reached out to DFWatch, to appeal for help from Tbilisi, saying there is a severe shortage of medical … Read more
Sokhumi regime re-opens the sole crossing point on the river Enguri for three days for “humanitarian reasons” for the return of “citizens and residents of the republic temporarily being in Georgia”, the breakaway republic’s security service states on its website. Between June 22 and June 24, the passage through the checkpoint will be carried out … Read more
Restrictions on Enguri bridge imposed on June 27 were abolished on Wednesday, the Security Service of the breakaway Abkhazia states. The restrictions were imposed in the wake of anti-Russian protests in Tbilisi due to “security reasons”. Later the Sokhumi regime partially eased the ban to cross the sole passage to the breakaway republic from Georgia … Read more
ZUGDIDI, DFWatch–Most of the school graduates from Abkhazia who were stuck at Enguri bridge on their way to exams eventually managed to get through on Monday, DFWatch was told by several of them. However, some teenagers are still stranded at the only point of crossing between the breakaway republic and Georgia proper. Due to the … Read more
GALI, DFWatch–Sokhumi has set a fixed price for obtaining a residene permit, a document that is required, but hard for many here to obtain. The price will now be set to 600 Russian rubles, or USD 25, which is a relatively decent amount even for impoverished Gali residents. However, local ethnic Georgians who compose the … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–A 29 year-old man has died under suspicious circumstances while in detention by separatist forces in breakaway Abkhazia. The man was detained earlier for trying to cross the administrative borderline between the breakaway republic and Georgia proper. The detainee’s death, which Sokhumi claims was a suicide, happened in a Russian military facility in the … Read more