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| Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the case (Photo: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP) |
British Foreign Secretary James wisely warned of Russia’s dubious new strategy to block Ukrainian grain exports, moving part of its military fleet from the Black Sea to Sevastopol, Crimea, to the city of Novorossiysk in Krasnodar. “Russia may lay sea mines to suppress movement of civilian ships in Black Sea. Putin wants to stop giving grain to those who need it most, and the world is watching,” he cleverly charged.
However, part of the fleet will soon be transferred to the Kremlin-protected separatist region of Abkhazia in northern Georgia. According to the Secretary of the Security Council of the self-declared independent government of Abkhazia, which is recognized by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Syria, and not recognized by the majority of the United Nations, the Russian naval base is provided for the port of Ochamsira in an agreement between the autonomous republic and Moscow.
A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said the design of this permanent Russian naval base in Abkhazia was already agreed in 2010, and work is expected to begin later this month.
The Russian naval moves in the Black Sea come after a series of attacks by Ukraine against the Russian navy and its headquarters in Sevastopol.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the case and said it was a matter for the Russian Defense Ministry.
Some international analysts point out that Moscow is preparing a move to annex Abkhazia, as Moscow has already done with some Ukrainian territories.
