Russian Official: No Link between Sochi and Abkhaz Blasts

Aleksandr Tkachov, the governor of Krasnodar region, has ruled out a link between the recent blasts in Abkhazia and an explosion in a Sochi apartment block that killed two people.

When asked if there was a link, Tkachov told journalists on July 2: “categorically no.”

A 14-year-old boy and his grandmother were killed in the apartment block explosion in Russia’s resort town of Sochi, close to the Abkhaz border, on July 2. Twelve people were slightly injured in four explosions in breakaway Abkhazia’s Gagra and Sokhumi on June 29 and June 30, respectively.

Russian news agencies reported that a gas leak in the apartment building was suspected as being the cause of the explosion in Sochi. Investigators, however, have not ruled out other causes.