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Shooting reported in Russian-occupied Abkhazia's local council; council member killed

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Shooting reported in Russian-occupied Abkhazia's local council; council member killed
The flag of Russian-occupied Abkhazia is seen in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Maksim Konstantinov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

A shooting in the "people assembly" building of Georgia's Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia left one person dead and another injured, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Dec. 19.

Vakhtang Golandzia, a member of the assembly that de facto serves as the occupied region's legislative body, was fatally shot, and his colleague Kan Kvarchia was injured, RFE/RL reported, citing local health authorities.

The suspected perpetrator, council member Adgur Kharazia, fled the crime scene, the Apsynpress news agency reported. Kvarchia has been hospitalized with a wound to his arm, according to local officials.

The Amra-life Telegram channel alleged that the council was discussing a bill on a mining ban. During the deliberations, Kharazia and Kvarchia got into an argument, after which Kharazia pulled out a gun and opened fire at Kvarchia, the channel wrote.

Golandzia was shot after supposedly attempting to intervene.

Russia has occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia after a war with Tbilisi in 2008, backing local breakaway leadership. Both regions are internationally recognized as Georgia's sovereign soil.

Despite popular uprising, Kremlin’s grip on occupied Abkhazia runs supreme
When local council members gathered in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia last week to discuss new measures promoting Russian investment, a group of protestors rose to meet them. The proposed legislation, which would have legalized Russian investment and land ownership in the occupied region…
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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

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