Newspaper: Su-27 Flanker Jets Take Part in Abkhazia Military Trainings
The Russian daily Kommersant reported that SU-27 Flanker fighter jets took part in the military excercises that commenced in Abkhazia yesterday. The Su-27 Flanker is a Soviet made, high-performance fighter which entered production in 1982 as an adversary of the US F-15 aircraft.
Abkhaz secessionist forces are not known to posses the fighter-jets and do not have available fighter-pilots. However, the report seems to confirm recent statements by the Georgian authorities that Russia continues to helps equip the Abkhaz forces through supplies, personnel and training.
Su-27 fighters participated in the Abkhazia conflict in the early 1990s against Georgian forces. Although Russia denied the participation of its troops, one of these Su-27 was downed by the Georgian forces on March 13, 1993, which bore a Russian insignia and was operated by a Russian pilot.
The fighter jets can be launched from the Gudauta military base, which Russia claims was closed under the 1999 Istanbul agreement. Georgia demands continuous international monitoring of these claims.
A source in the Abkhaz defense ministry told Kommersant that “foreign instructors” do train Abkhaz pilots. He added that none of them are on active-duty. Russian officer Anatoly Zaytsev is the chief-of-staff of the Abkhaz troops.
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