Opposition members in Abkhazia stripped of Russian citizenship

Opposition members in Abkhazia stripped of Russian citizenship

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Abkhazian MP Kan Kvarchiya and opposition member and businessman Levan Mikaa have alleged that they were stripped of their Russian citizenship due to their domestic political activities.

‘It turns out that being a patriot, loving your people, and defending their interests is interpreted as a threat to Russia’s national security. I am very sorry that this is how some officials in Russia interpret it’, Kvarchiya said during a press conference with Mikaa on Tuesday.

According to Kvarchiya, by depriving them of Russian citizenship, the pair were left isolated.

‘By depriving us of Russian citizenship, we are prohibited from entering the country through which Abkhazia has its only connection with the rest of the world’, he said.

Abkhazia’s government — and its passport — is only recognised by five UN member states: Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Tuvalu, and Syria, although the future of the latter’s position is unclear in the aftermath of the downfall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024.

The vast majority of Abkhazians have Russian citizenship, which allows them access to a much wider range of countries.

Neither Kvarchiya nor Mikaa have received any official information regarding the deprivation of their Russian citizenship and the reasoning behind the decision. They also noted that no Abkhazian government agencies have assisted them in finding out why their Russian citizenship was stripped from them.

‘Acting President Badra Gunba was silent, the Abkhazian Foreign Ministry was silent, and acting President Valery Bganba was silent. The Speaker of the Parliament Lasha Ashuba expressed concern in a personal conversation, but there has been no reaction from the Parliament of Abkhazia’, Mikaa on Tuesday.

According to the politicians, the Russian Ambassador to Abkhazia, Mikhail Shurgalin, also refused to meet with them.

‘Ambassador Shurgalin told us that we are not at his level for him to meet with us’, Kvarchiya said.

During Tuesday’s press conference, Mikaa claimed that depriving them of citizenship was a consequence of the policy of former Abkhazian President Aslan Bzhaniya.

‘The former president began to use the Russian theme to resolve domestic issues. He used only slander’, Mikaa said.

Mikaa and Kvarchiya appealed to the five presidential candidates ahead of the 15 February presidential elections to publicly express their attitude to what happened, stating that the candidates should show voters how prepared they are to protect the rights and interests of citizens of Abkhazia.

Previous history of threats

Both Kvarchiya and Mikaa played leading roles in the protests surrounding a controversial investments agreement which brought down Bzhaniya’s government in November 2024.

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Despite some efforts to frame the protest movement as being anti-Russian, both its leaders and general participants emphasised that their opposition was focused on the investments agreement and Bzhaniya specifically, rather than any antagonism towards Moscow.

Nonetheless, it is clear that the protests provoked the ire of the Kremlin, which was demonstrated by the ending of Russia’s supply of subsidised energy to Abkhazia.

Ahead of February’s snap presidential elections to replace Bzhaniya, all candidates, including those in the opposition, have stressed that they are pro-Russian.

During a press conference in August 2024, Abkhazian Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba dodged questions about a demand in a leaked document for Abkhazia to provide information about MPs and opposition leaders to deprive them of Russian citizenship. In the document, the veracity of which has not been confirmed, Russia conferred a number of threats to Abkhazia if the government did not enact pro-Russian policies, including the controversial investments legislation that was ultimately scrapped.

He instead said that the public should not be worried about opposition figures being stripped of their Russian citizenship, but that Abkhazia had spoiled its relations with Russia.

The sentiment was echoed in part by Kvarchiya at Tuesday’s press conference, who also said that Bzhaniya’s policies had ‘led to the deterioration of Abkhazian–Russian relations’, as well as creating an environment in which political opposition is repressed.

Unlike previous elections in Abkhazia, Moscow has refrained from openly supporting a candidate, but some in Abkhazia have already accused Russia of exerting undue pressure in the pre-election season.

For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

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