The South Caucasus News - SouthCaucasusNews.com
Delimitation of the Abkhazia–Russia border
It appears that Russia has entered a new stage of demarcating and delimiting its borders with Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Georgia. Nikolai Udovichenko has been appointed as the new special representative on this issue, tasked with overseeing the delimitation and demarcation of Russia’s borders with CIS countries.
Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia after the August 2008 war. Besides Russia, only four other countries have done so. For the rest of the world, Abkhazia and South Ossetia remain part of Georgia’s territory.
Although 17 years have passed since the Kremlin recognized Abkhazia’s independence, the border between them has still not been demarcated. A joint Russian–Abkhaz commission, which includes experts and members of parliament from both sides, has been operating for more than a decade — yet the sides have still not reached full consensus.
The most contentious issue in the negotiations is the village of Aibga. Part of the village lies on the Russian side of the Psou River, which marks the border, and is part of Russia’s Krasnodar region. The other part is located on the Abkhaz side.
Russia claims the Abkhaz part of the village, arguing that it is a single settlement that should not be divided, and that most of its residents are ethnic Russians who wish to be part of Russia. Abkhazia disagrees, maintaining that the village – which contains an Abkhaz shrine – is historically Abkhaz land.
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News in Abkhazia
The Interior Ministry said Sunday that 60 people had been arrested over the past three days for protest-related administrative offenses, mainly for blocking the road during nightly rallies on Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue, near Parliament.
“Although patrol police officers repeatedly called on the rally participants not to commit offenses, as their small number did not grant them the legal right to block the road, the demonstrators ignored the warnings and again blocked the road, obstructing traffic,” the ministry said in a Sunday statement.
The Ministry called on protesters to refrain from “illegal actions” and warned that “measures provided under the law” would be applied against violators.
Around 100 people are estimated to have been arrested over the past ten days, since October 16, when the Georgian Dream parliament hastily amended several laws to make protest-related offenses, such as blocking roads or covering faces during rallies, immediately punishable by detention and to introduce criminal liability of up to one year in prison for repeat offenses.
Among those arrested in the past three days were opposition Droa party member Giga Lemonjava, who was sent to 14 days in detention; Zviad Tsetskladze, the father of Zurab Tsetskladze, convicted in one of the 2024 protest-related cases, who received seven days in detention; Vasil Ivanov-Chikovani, a former anchor at Georgia’s Public Broadcaster, who was sent to seven days in jail, while his wife was fined GEL 5,000; Formula TV co-founder and film director Giorgi Liponava, who received three days in detention; and the channel’s cameraman Nika Pataraia, who received four days in detention.
Online media outlet Publika reported that its journalist, Mamuka (Basti) Mgaloblishvili, who had been performing his professional duties covering the protests on Rustaveli Avenue and was wearing a press badge, was briefly detained near his home on October 24. According to Publika, two police officers put him in their car and questioned him to verify his identity, despite him showing his press card. The outlet added its journalist was held “unlawfully” in the police car for about 40 minutes before being released and driven back home, after officers told him, “We mistook you for someone else.”
The Interior Ministry later told Publika that Mgaloblishvili “was not detained but stopped for verification purposes, was not taken anywhere, his identity was checked, and he continued on his way.”
If those previously sent to administrative detention for blocking roads or covering faces during rallies repeat the offense, authorities can detain them under criminal procedure, as repeat violations are punishable by up to one year in prison.
Rustaveli Avenue has been blocked every night since November 28, 2024, when the Georgian Dream government, a month after the widely disputed October 26 parliamentary elections, announced a halt to Georgia’s EU accession process. The ruling party recently pledged to end the daily rallies on Tbilisi’s main avenue, as the number of protesters has dwindled over the course of nearly a year.
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