Russia to Start Railway Forces Pullout on July 30

The Russian Ministry of Defense said a ceremony marking the end of repair of Abkhaz rail infrastructure by its Railway Forces would be held on July 30.

The Russian MoD invited – in a statement on its website – Russian media sources to attend the ceremony, as well as the official send-off of Railway Forces from a railway station in Dranda, outside Sokhumi.

The Russian MoD’s Railway Forces, which were deployed in the breakaway region in late May, have repaired a 54-kilometer section of railway between the capital Sokhumi and Ochamchire. 

Georgia has strongly condemned the deployment of the Railway Forces to Abkhazia. Tbilisi said that Russia was preparing infrastructure in Abkhazia for possible military aggression.

Russia, however, said the move was part of Moscow’s “humanitarian assistance” to the breakaway region and would withdraw them as soon as the repairs had been completed.