Russians Land Troops By Sea In Abkhazia

This report is a little late, but I wanted to record it here:

There are some interesting considerations here. There are no reports of what type of ships are transporting Russian troops and equipment, but we can do some guessing. Based on what we have been hearing, while possible, we do not believe these are the Ropucha class LSTs that the Ukrainian bloggers have been noting, rather these are more likely some prepositioning ships Russia had prepared. Depending upon the number of ships, it could potentially be anywhere from a battalion or two, or perhaps a brigade or two. Unverified reports suggest the number is around 4,000. There are still no good press reports regarding the size of the naval force that deployed from the Ukraine, although it has been reported that both Cruisers at the Black Sea Base put to sea.

On July 31st, it was reported that Russia had completed a major railroad to Ochamchire, so it would appear this will be a major Russian logistics base.

While the tracks were repaired and peace negotiations stalled, the Russian military has been running major military maneuvers Kavkaz-2008 in the North Caucasus close to the Georgian border since July 15. It was announced that some 8,000 servicemen, 700 pieces of armor and artillery, and 30 aircraft are taking part in the exercises that officially are to prepare for encounters with terrorists. But there have been reports in the Russian press that the number of troops is substantially higher (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 18). The maneuvers involve airborne, motor-rifle and mountain troops of the North Caucasian Military District as well as paratroopers from the 76th airborne division from Pskov and marines of the Black Sea and Caspian fleets. Paratroopers were deployed on the border with South Ossetia on the Roki and Mamisoni mountain passes of the main Caucasian ridge. The paratroopers were reinforced by mechanized and mountain troops. Black Sea fleet marines landed near Adler, supported by airpower and Black Sea battle ships firing artillery and antiaircraft missiles—all, allegedly, to prepare to fight “terrorists” (ITAR-TASS, July 23).

Source: Information Dissemination, "Russian Lands troops By Sea"

Commentary

If this report is true...then Russia is expanding the war beyong the Georgian province of South Ossetia into the Georgian province of Abkhazia. And all the while, Russia is degrading the infrastructure of Georgia with bombing raids, missile attacks, and artillery fire. There are also reports that the Russian navy has sunk two Georgian patrol boats.

Here is a brief CNN report:


And here is a report from Russia Today that details Abkhazian units attempting to retake Kodori gorge from Georgia: