# Abkhazia > [!info] Not a country page > Abkhazia is a breakaway region of [[Georgia (country)]] recognized by only four states, Russia among them. It is filed beside the country pages as a regional page, like [[Transnistria]]. For context see [[Post-Soviet States]]. **Abkhazia** is the Black Sea coastal region in Georgia's northwest that fought its way out of Georgia in 1992–93, has been under Russian military protection since, and was recognized by Moscow as independent after the 2008 war. It is the larger and more self-assertive of Georgia's two Russian-held regions — the one where the population has at times pushed back against Moscow itself. | Item | Detail | |---|---| | War | 14 August 1992 – 30 September 1993; Sukhumi fell 27 September 1993 | | Displacement | About 200,000–250,000 ethnic Georgians displaced by most estimates (Georgian sources give more) | | Ceasefire | Moscow Agreement of 14 May 1994 — Russian-led CIS peacekeepers, monitored by the UN mission UNOMIG until a Russian veto ended it in June 2009 | | Russian recognition | 26 August 2008 | | Recognized by | Russia, Nicaragua (2008), Venezuela (2009), [[Syria]] (2018). Vanuatu and Tuvalu withdrew earlier; **Nauru withdrew in July 2026** | | Population | About 244,000 (2025 estimate); roughly half ethnic Abkhaz, with large Georgian, Armenian and Russian minorities *[ethnic shares single-sourced]* | | De facto president | Badra Gunba, since April 2025 | | Russian forces | 7th Military Base at Gudauta under a 49-year agreement of February 2010 (at least 3,000 troops at signing); FSB border guards; a planned Black Sea Fleet facility at Ochamchire | ## The 2024 revolt against Moscow's deal In November 2024 protests broke out over an investment agreement with Russia. On 15 November protesters stormed the parliament, government and presidential buildings; de facto president Aslan Bzhania resigned overnight on 18–19 November and parliament rejected the deal. Moscow's response showed what the relationship rests on. Russia suspended 1.8 billion rubles in aid and began charging market rates for electricity; Abkhazia rationed power for about ten hours a day. Aid resumed only after Gunba, the acting leader, appealed in December, and in February 2025 Russia announced new money for public-sector salaries and full restoration of electricity. Gunba — openly backed by Moscow — then won the 1 March 2025 runoff with 54.73% *[Wikipedia gives 55.66%]*. ## Dependence | Measure | Detail | |---|---| | Budget | Russia supplied $54 million of a $166 million budget in 2024 — about a third; other estimates run to half | | Pitsunda | In December 2023 Abkhazia leased 301 hectares around the Soviet-era state dacha at Pitsunda to Russia's Federal Protection Service for 49 years | | Ochamchire | Announced as a Russian naval facility in October 2023; Gunba called it a "technical support base" for the Black Sea Fleet in June 2025 | | Investment | At an April 2026 economic forum in Sukhumi, Kremlin official Sergei Kiriyenko floated more than 100 billion rubles of possible Russian investment — intentions, not commitments | ## Georgia's position Georgia's 2008 Law on Occupied Territories bans economic activity in the region and entry without Tbilisi's permission. The Geneva International Discussions — Georgia, Russia, the two regions, the EU, OSCE, UN and U.S. — reached their 67th round in mid-2026 with no movement on the return of displaced people. The EU Monitoring Mission, set up in 2008, is still refused access to either region. ## Why it matters here Abkhazia complicates the simple version of the "near abroad" story. Its population did not choose Russia so much as choose against Georgia — and when Moscow's investment terms went too far, the same population threw out its own leader. Russia won anyway, by switching off the money and the power. See [[Post-Soviet States]] on how Russia's levers have shifted from troops to dependence. ## See Also - [[Georgia (country)]] - [[South Ossetia]] - [[Transnistria]] - [[Frozen Conflict]] - [[Post-Soviet States]]