Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia have urged Georgian troops to disarm. They're stationed in the safety zone on the border between Georgia and Abkhazia and are assisting the Abkhazian troops to prevent further violence in the region.
Russia wants to prevent South Ossetian tragedy from repeating in Abkhazia. “Peacekeepers are gearing up to take under control the territory that's dividing the conflicting sides – Georgia and Abkhazia. And it's done in order to prevent anything similar to what happened in South Ossetia, to prevent Georgia's invasion of Abkhazian territory,” said Sergey Shamba, Abkhazia’s Foreign Minister. Russian peacekeepers and Abkhazian forces have organised a humanitarian corridor in the Gali district on the Georgian-Abkhazian border. “Georgian troops are fully blocked in the upper part of Abkhazia's Kodori Gorge. We offer a humanitarian corridor for all of them to leave. If the Georgians don't use this opportunity, an operation for their elimination will begin,” said Mirab Kishmaria, Abkhazia’s Defence Minister. The Georgian residents from neighbouring areas are invited to a special refugee centre in the town of Gali. But for the moment Georgian troops closed the humanitarian corridor. And according to the latest reports, Abkhazia has started a military operation to pull Georgian troops out of the upper part of the Kodori Gorge.