Abkhazian Armed Forces

Abkhazian Armed Forces
Founded	12 October 1992 (1992-10-12)
Service branches	Abkhazian Army Abkhazian Navy Abkhazian Air Force
Leadership
Commander-in-chief	Raul Khajimba
Prime Minister	Valeri Bganba
Minister of Defence	Mirab Kishmaria
Chief of Staff	Vasily Lunev
Manpower
Active personnel	3000 - 5000
Industry
Foreign suppliers	Russia
Related articles
History	Military history of Abkhazia Abkhazian War Six-Day War of Abkhazia Kodori Crisis Russo-Georgian War
Ranks	Military ranks of Abkhazia

The Abkhazian Armed Forces are the military of Abkhazia.

The Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of the Abkhazian armed forces were officially created on 12 October 1992, after the outbreak of the 1992-1993 war with Georgia. The basis of the armed forces was formed by the ethnic Abkhaz National Guard created early in 1992 prior to the outbreak of the war. During the war, the Abkhazian forces - with the critical support from the Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus, Cossack volunteers and Russian regular military units stationed in or near Abkhazia - succeeded in defeating the Georgian troops; Georgians, Armenians, Greeks, Russians and Abkhaz were killed. Roughly 200,000 to 250,000 Georgian civilians became Internally displaced persons (IDPs). Most of the military's weapons come from the Russian airborne division base in Gudauta, while others were captured from Georgian forces.

On 24 November 2014 the governments of Abkhazia and Russia signed a treaty of cooperation that creates a joint force of troops from the two countries. In September 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a proposal to finance the modernization of the Abkhazian Armed Forces.

Current situation

Georgia regards the Abkhaz armed forces as "unlawful military formations" and accuses Russia of supplying and training the Abkhaz troops, partly in exchange for Abkhaz land or hotels. The Abkhaz deny this, saying they bought what they have on the free market except for five sea cutters received from Russia and speedboats from the Abkhaz diaspora in Greece. In March 2005, then Abkhazian defence minister Sultan Sosnaliev admitted that the senior and middle-ranking officers in the Abkhaz army are regularly sent to Russia for 2–3 month training courses within the framework of the Russia's "Vystrel" (Shot) program.

Sosnaliev himself is a Russian officer from the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic (Russian Federation) and held the same post during the Abkhazian war, when Chechen field commander and militant Shamil Basayev was his deputy. Similarly, former chief of staff, Major General Anatoly Zaitsev had previously served as deputy commander of the Transbaikal Military District (now part of the Siberian Military District) in Russia. Another top official, Deputy Defence Minister Aleksandr Pavlushko is a Russian colonel and the former chief of staff of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia. Georgia also regularly accuses Abkhazia of forcibly recruiting Georgian returnees from the Gali district into the armed forces.

The Abkhaz military is primarily a ground force but includes small sea and air units. In 2006, an "anti-terrorist centre" of some 200 personnel was created under the de facto ministry of interior. The de facto minister of finance estimated, in 2006, that 35 per cent of Abkhazia's budget was spent on the military and police.

On 8 May 2007, Minister of Defence and Vice Premier Sultan Sosnaliyev resigned. He was succeeded as Defence Minister (but not as Vice Premier) by First Deputy Defence Minister Mirab Kishmaria, in an acting fashion from 10 May and permanently from 26 July onwards.

On 14 April 2010, five Deputy Ministers of Defence were retired, including Chief of the Armed Forces Anatoli Zaitsev. Aslan Ankvab was appointed acting First Deputy Minister of Defence and Chief of Staff. On 21 May 2010, Beslan Tsvishba was also appointed First Deputy Minister of Defence. On 29 March 2011, Vladimir Vasilchenko succeeded Aslan Ankvab to become the new, permanent, Chief of Staff and First Deputy Minister of Defence.

On 18 May 2015, retired Russian army general Anatoly Khrulyov was appointed Chief of the General Staff by President Raul Khajimba.

Military leadership

From	#	President	#	Minister for Defence	#	Chief of the General Staff
1992	Parliamentary republic		1	Vladimir Arshba	1	Sultan Sosnaliyev
1993
			2	Sultan Sosnaliyev	2	Sergei Dbar
1994
	1	Vladislav Ardzinba
1995
1996
			3	Vladimir Mikanba	3	Vladimir Arshba
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
			4	Raul Khajimba
2003
			5	Viacheslav Eshba
2004
2005
	2	Sergei Bagapsh	6	Sultan Sosnaliyev	4	Anatoli Zaitsev
2006
2007
			7	Mirab Kishmaria
2008
2009
2010
					Aslan Ankvab
2011
	3	Alexander Ankvab			5	Vladimir Vasilchenko
2012
2013
2014
	Valeri Bganba
	4	Raul Khajimba
2015
					6	Anatoly Khrulyov

Organisation

Structure of the Abkhazian Armed Forces.

Army

According to the authorities of the Republic of Abkhazia, the Abkhazian Land Forces are organised along the Swiss model - in time of peace they have personnel of 3,000 to 5,000 and in case of war further 40-50,000 reservists are called out. They are authorised to keep registered weapons at home.

Army Formations

• General Staff Headquarters
• 3-4 Motorized rifle battalions
• Tank battalion
• Artillery regiment,
• Engineering battalion
• Mountain battalion
• Intelligence battalion
• Spetsnaz troops
• Honour Guard Battalion (SVOKU)
• Military Band Service of the Ministry of Defense (led by David Terzyan)

Military Districts

• Central Military District (Sukhumi)
• Eastern Military District (Ochamchira)
• Western Military District (Pitsunda)

Military Academies

The Honour Guard Battalion of the academy.

• Sukhumi Higher Combined-Arms Command School (SVOKU) - The school was founded on October 31, 2000 by order of the Minister of Defence of Abkhazia. The school carries out the training for cadets in the Abkhazian Armed Forces. The academy maintains an Honour Guard Battalion, which is made up of 35 cadets.

Navy

The Abkhazian Navy consists of three divisions that are based in Sukhumi, Ochamchire and Pitsunda. Four ships Project 1204 Shmel class PBR, 657 (ex-AK-599), 658 (ex-AK-582), and 328 (ex-AK-248) were transferred from the Russian Navy in the late 1990s.^{[citation needed]} An additional ship ex-AK-527 was also transferred and cannibalized for spares.^{[citation needed]} The three Abkhaz ships did not take part in the 2008 South Ossetia conflict, but their state was unclear. As of 2005 the first two of them had one PSKA Project 1400M Grif ("Zhuk") class PC speed-boats each. The navy also includes several civil vessels that were equipped with guns and unguided rocket artillery systems. NOVOSTI (Russian News & Information Agency) gives the following naval figures: over 20 motor boats armed with machine-guns and small-caliber cannons.

Air Force

Main article: Abkhazian Air Force

The Abkhazian Air Force uses Russian and Soviet-built aircraft. It is a small force, which numbers only 7 aircraft, 3-4 helicopters, and 250 personnel.

Equipment

The exact numbers and types of equipment remain unverifiable as no thorough international monitoring has ever been carried out in Abkhazia. NOVOSTI (Russian News & Information Agency) gives the following army figures: 10,000-strong Abkhazian Self Defense Force wielding 60 tanks, including 40 T-72s, 85 artillery pieces and mortars, including several dozen with a 122-152-mm caliber and 116 armored vehicles of different types, also has numerous anti-tank weapons ranging from RPG-7 rocket launchers to Konkurs-M anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). Given the status of Abkhazia and recent armed conflict with Georgia a variety of equipment has been utilized by formations of the Abkhazian military, including inherited Soviet equipment, donated Russian weapons, impressed civilian gear, and items captured from the Georgians.

For aircraft, see Abkhazian Air Force

Tanks, IFVs and APCs

Model	Image	Origin	Type	Number	Notes
Tanks
T-72		Soviet Union / Russia	Main battle tank	9
T-55		Soviet Union	Main battle tank	53
Infantry Fighting Vehicles
BMP-2		Soviet Union / Russia	Infantry fighting vehicle
BMP-1		Soviet Union	Infantry fighting vehicle		Approximately 70-85 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers are in service.
Armoured personnel carriers
BTR-70		Soviet Union	Armored personnel carrier
BTR-60		Soviet Union	Armored personnel carrier	40
Air Defence
9K37 Buk		Soviet Union / Russia	Surface-to-air missile system
ZSU-23-4		Soviet Union / Russia	Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon	6

Artillery

Model	Image	Origin	Type	Number	Notes
Artillery
BM-21 "Grad"		Soviet Union	Multiple rocket launcher	7
122 mm 2A18		Soviet Union	Field artillery		About 80 towed field artillery pieces are in service
85 mm D-44		Soviet Union	Field artillery
120 mm mortar		Soviet Union	Mortar		About 42 mortars are in service; exact types are unspecified
82 mm mortar		Soviet Union	Mortar
KSM-65 100 mm coastal defense gun		Soviet Union	Coastal artillery		In 2008 some were reactivate from storage; exact types and number are unspecified;

Infantry weapons

Model	Image	Origin	Type	Number	Notes
RPG-18		Soviet Union	Rocket launcher
RPG-7		Soviet Union	Rocket launcher
PK		Soviet Union	Machine gun
RPK		Soviet Union	Light machine gun
AS Val		Soviet Union	Suppressed Assault rifle
AK-74		Soviet Union	Assault rifle
AK-47, AKM		Soviet Union	Assault rifle		Reserves only
Dragunov		Soviet Union	Sniper rifle
Makarov		Soviet Union	Pistol
F1		Soviet Union	Hand grenade
RGD-5		Soviet Union	Hand grenade

Russian troops

Russia maintains a 3,500-strong force in Abkhazia with its headquarters in Gudauta, a former Soviet military base on the Black Sea coast north of the capital, Sukhumi, under a September 2009 agreement on military cooperation. The Gudauta base hosts Russia's 131st Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, equipped with at least 41 T-90 main battle tanks and 130 BTR-80 APCs.

Bibliography

• Давид Петросян (David Petrosyan). Проблемы непризнанных государств на постсоветском пространстве: Южный Кавказ (Problems of the unrecognised states in the former USSR: South Caucasus) (in Russian)
• Милитаризм по-кавказски (Caucasian-style militarism), Независимая Газета (Nezavisimaya Gazeta), 13.10.2001 (in Russian)
• Абхазский де-факто министр рассказывает о приоритетах, "Civil.Ge", Tbilisi 2005-01-04 (in Russian)
• Багапш приказал топить грузинские суда, Независимая Газета, 25.07.2005 (in Russian)