Georgia’s Security Service: Russia likely building shipping terminal, not naval base in occupied Abkhazia

Georgia’s State Security Service (SSS) has downplayed speculation about the construction of a Russian naval base in the port of Ochamchire, the country’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, suggesting in its latest annual report that current activity was more likely tied to the development of a container shipping terminal rather than a permanent military installation.

The 2024 report, published on Tuesday and signed by the newly appointed head of the agency, Anri Okhanashvili, claimed that while the processes underway in the occupied Abkhaz region remained part of Russia’s broader efforts to annex Georgian territory, there was no direct indication that a permanent naval base was being constructed at this time.

“Current processes are likely to be activities carried out within the framework of the construction of the so-called container shipping terminal,” the agency noted. However, it also warned that the developments fitted into a larger pattern of Russian strategic consolidation in the region.

Concerns about Ochamchire first emerged in 2023, when reports suggested that Russia was considering expanding its naval presence there in response to losses sustained in the Black Sea during the war in Ukraine. The port has hosted a Russian FSB border guard ship base since 2017, but prior to the Ukraine conflict, Russia had no naval presence in Abkhazia. Its main Black Sea bases remain in the annexed Crimean peninsula and Russia’s Krasnodar Territory.

Last year, Georgia’s security service cast doubt on the feasibility of deploying large warships to Ochamchire, citing the port’s limited size and underdeveloped infrastructure. Still, it acknowledged that any military use of the port would bolster Russia’s ability to project power in the Black Sea and entrench its control over occupied Abkhazia.

In January 2024, Sergei Shamba, the so-called Foreign Minister and Secretary of the Security Council of Abkhazia’s de facto authorities, told Russian media that a Russian naval base was under construction in Ochamchire and could be commissioned later that year. However, in a reversal in August, he publicly ruled out any plans for a Russian base.

The State Security Service report also highlights recent developments at Sokhumi Airport, where in February 2025 a civilian aircraft from Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport landed for the first time in 32 years. The agency warned that reopening the airport could serve as a political tool for Russia and the de facto authorities to promote a false image of Abkhazia’s independence.

“By restoring the Sokhumi airport, Russia will gain additional political and economic leverage to control the occupied region,” the report said, adding that the de facto leadership may attempt to use the airport’s operation to assert so-called sovereignty in the international arena.

This year’s report also marked a shift in tone regarding Georgia’s Western partners. For the first time, the State Security Service directly accuses Western countries and institutions of participating in disinformation and propaganda campaigns allegedly aimed at influencing Georgia’s internal political dynamics.

“Special services of foreign countries, as well as individual domestic and external actors, using the tools of the so-called hybrid war, tried to influence the ongoing political and economic processes in the country,” the report said. “There were attempts to change the government by force… in which, among others, representatives of Western countries and institutions were involved.”