War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)
| War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) | |||||||||
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| Part of the Abkhazia conflict and the Georgian Civil War | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Abkhazia Russia | Georgia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Vladislav Ardzinba Vladimir Arshba Sergei Dbar Sergei Matosyan Galust Trapizonyan Vagharshak Kosyan Sultan Sosnaliyev Aslambek Abdulkhadzhiev Shamil Basayev Ruslan Gelayev Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev |
Eduard Shevardnadze Tengiz Kitovani Tengiz Sigua Jaba Ioseliani Giorgi Karkarashvili Geno Adamia † David Tevzadze Gujar Kurashvili Loti Kobalia Zhiuli Shartava † | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
North Caucasian national detachments Russian volunteers:
Transnistrian volunteers |
Georgian Defense Ministry forces
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| Strength | |||||||||
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Abkhaz National Guard: 4,000–5,000 Abkhazians
Bagramyan Battalion: 1,000-1,500 Armenians
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10,000 troops 55 aircraft 120 MBT's and 180 AIFV/APC 150 Ukrainians | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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2,220 combatants killed ~8,000 wounded 122 missing in action 1,820 civilians killed |
4,000 combatants and civilians killed 10,000 wounded 1,000 missing 250,000 ethnic Georgians displaced | ||||||||
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Total dead 10,000–15,000 or 25,000–30,000 | |||||||||
The War in Abkhazia was fought between Georgian government and paramilitary forces, and a coalition of Abkhaz separatist forces and North Caucasian militants between 1992 and 1993. Ethnic Georgians who lived in Abkhazia fought largely on the side of Georgian government forces. Ethnic Armenians, who formed the Bagramyan Battalion and Russians within Abkhazia's population largely supported the Abkhazians and many fought on their side. The separatists received support from thousands of North Caucasus and Cossack militants and from the Russian Federation military forces stationed in and near Abkhazia.
The conflict overlapped in time with civil strife in Georgia proper (between the supporters of the ousted Georgian president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia – in office 1991–1992 – and the post-coup government headed by Eduard Shevardnadze).
Significant human rights violations and atrocities were reported on all sides, peaking in the aftermath of the Abkhaz capture of Sukhumi on 27 September 1993, which (according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) was followed by a large-scale campaign of ethnic cleansing against the ethnic Georgian population. A fact-finding mission dispatched by the UN Secretary General in October 1993 reported numerous and serious human rights violations committed both by Abkhazians and by Georgians. Approximately 5,000 ethnic Georgians and 4,000 Abkhaz were reported killed or missing, and 250,000 Georgians became internally displaced or refugees.
The war heavily affected post-Soviet Georgia, which suffered considerable financial, human and psychological damage. The fighting and subsequent continued sporadic conflict have devastated Abkhazia.