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Pitsunda Bay in Abkhazia
THE breakaway republic of Abkhazia, South Caucasus, is preparing to ratify an agreement to hand over part of its land to Russia.
The Pitsunda estate, a popular summer retreat for leaders during the Soviet era, was signed over to Moscow in January, however details only became public in July, when it was presented in Abkhazian parliament.
Russia’s presence in Pitsunda dates back to 1995, when Abkhazia’s first president Vladislav Ardzinba agreed to lease out three summer houses on the estate.
TOMASZ PIERSCIONEK is intrigued by a the changing significance of its vast areas of forest to Russia’s history
MARK HAZELDEN criticises the Western narrative that the incident was an escalation of Russia’s confrontation with the West, given that Belarus, a Russian ally, warned Poland of off-course drones, and the drones were unarmed, cheap wooden decoys
