Publication:  N36 / Review period: March 1 – 31, 2024 / Author: Arsen Araqelov

Review of the Activities of the Russian Military Forces in Abkhazia and the Tkshinvali Region is being prepared within the framework of the project - Roadmap to the Kremlin's Policy in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region. The purpose of the publication is to review trainings of the military forces of the Russian Federation deployed in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, as well as other important events related to the Russian 7th and 4th military bases in these regions. The review is a monthly publication and will be useful for everyone – decision-makers, public employees, media representatives and other people who are interested in the Kremlin policy in the occupied regions of Georgia.

*Note: A major part of military personnel of the 4th and 7th military bases are dispatched to fight against Ukraine. Therefore, the number of military exercises in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region has been significantly reduced; however, against this backdrop, the Armed Forces of the occupied regions are relatively active and periodically conduct various exercises. We will review the activities of the Armed Forces of the de facto republics against the backdrop of relatively passive activities of Russian servicemen in the occupied regions.

Abkhazia

Military Exercises

• From 5 to 15 March, command and staff exercises were held for various units of the de facto defense forces. The main goal of the exercise was to increase the effectiveness of coherence of actions between units in crisis field conditions. Soldiers of special and reserve forces took part in the exercises. The exercises were carried out on training grounds familiar to the militants, as well as on unknown territories. The so-called Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Vladimir Savchenko, headed the exercises.

Theoretical and Practical Classes

• On March 4-18, training sessions for driver-mechanics of  military equipment were held at the training base and combined arms training grounds of the de facto Ministry of Defense. According to the head of the training center, Lieutenant Colonel Anri Bartsits, the training was aimed at retraining driver-mechanics serving in the Armed Forces. Participants underwent practical training in driving of tracked vehicles.

Tskhinvali Region

Military Exercises

• The de facto Ministry of Defense conducted training with personnel of communications and control platoons of the Special Forces. As part of the exercises, the servicemen used special equipment in the field conditions. 
• Officers of the de facto Defense Forces passed the shooting standards in accordance with the control training plan. During the test firing exercises which were carried out at the military training ground of the “agency,” the officers used their standard weapons.

Theoretical and Practical Classes

• Theoretical and practical classes in various military disciplines were conducted for commanders of military units and officers of the de facto Ministry of Defense.

Meetings

• On March 21, a delegation of the Russian Ministry of Defense paid a working visit to the region. According to the de facto Ministry of Defense, the meeting took place within the framework of bilateral military cooperation. As per media reports, the conversation touched on the functioning of the 4th Russian military base stationed in the region. No additional details of the meeting were disclosed. On March 28, the parties discussed the issue of increasing wages for employees of the so-called Defense Forces. Reportedly, the purpose of the Russian delegation’s visit was to consult Ossetian “colleagues” on financial issues. The Russian delegation also met with de facto Defense Minister Marat Pavlov.

Delegation of the Russian Ministry of Defense in Tskhinvali

Participation in the Russian Military Aggression in Ukraine

After the start of Russia’s full-scale military aggression in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, representatives of the occupied regions of Georgia have been fighting on the side of Russia. Soldiers from Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region are participating in the war both as servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces and as volunteers. Most of them have been involved in combat since the beginning of the war, and some have been fighting in Ukraine since 2014.

According to information confirmed by open sources, from February 24, 2022, to present, a total of 40 militants (including one combatant in March 2024) from the Tskhinvali region, and 22 militants from Abkhazia were killed in Ukraine. For more details about the militants from Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region who died during the Russian military aggression in Ukraine, see the interactive map.

A 42-year-old Zelim Kharebov is a fighter from the Tskhinvali region who died in March. Kharebov died near the village of Robotino (Zaporizhzhia district), on March 22. He was buried in Tskhinvali on March 24. The de facto President Alan Gagloyev attended the funeral. By Gagloyev’s order, Kharebov was posthumously awarded the “Defender of the Fatherland” medal.

Zelim Kharebov

In March, two militants from the Tskhinvali region who participated in the military aggression were awarded military orders.

Batradz Gasayev was awarded the State Medal of the Republic of North Ossetia - Alania - “For the Glory of Ossetia.” Gasayev has been fighting in Ukraine since the start of the hostilities in 2022.

Batradz Gasayev

Georgy Margiev was awarded the medal for courage and heroism by Gagloyev. Margiev is the Head of the medical and sanitary department of the so-called Ministry of Internal Affairs. He is on leave in the region and plans to return to the front again in the future.

Georgy Margiev together with Alan Gagloyev

Alamat Chibirov was awarded the Russian State Medal “Zhukov” for outstanding courage and self-sacrifice.

Alamat Chibirov

Marat Jagaev was awarded the 2nd rank medal “For Military Courage” of the Russian Ministry of Defense for distinguished courage and self-sacrifice. He serves at the 4th Russian military base stationed in the Tskhinvali region.

Marat Jagaev

Robert Kulumbegov was posthumously awarded the “Guardian of Donbas” medal. Kulumbegov was an “Honored Artist” of the Tskhinvali region and Abkhazia. He fought in the ranks of the Pyatnashka International Brigade and died on March 31, 2022, in Yasynuvata (Donetsk region).

Robert Kulumbegov

School Named after Enver Dryaev

A secondary school in the village of Orchosani (Akhalgori district of the Tskhinvali region) will be named after Enver Dryaev. A respective order was signed by the de facto President Alan Gagloyev. Dryaev fought in the Donetsk region from the first days of the Russian military aggression in Ukraine. On April 7, 2022, a shell hit an infantry fighting vehicle and wounded Dryaev who got concussed. He struggled for his life for several months and died on October 28, 2022. Senior Lieutenant was enlisted in the 58th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District of Russia.

After the August 2008 war, Russian occupation forces were deployed in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region. In 2010, Russia signed agreements with the de facto republics of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region on the deployment of combined Russian military bases on the territories of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region for the next 49 years. The Russian 7th military base is located on the territory of Abkhazia, and the Russian 4th military base - in the Tskhinvali region. Both are part of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation