Aide to Abkhaz Leader Resigns

Akhra Avidzba, former Donbas militant and aide to Abkhaz leader Aslan Bzhania, filed resignation on November 9.

In a resignation letter addressed to Bzhania, Avidzba said the decision comes “in connection with the loss of faith in our common cause and the further inexpediency of my work in a political team that contradicts its declarative statements.” He accused the “political team” of not taking “necessary actions to achieve the goals of improving the well-being of our people and the development of the state.”

Avidzba drew public attention last week as he announced about Abkhazia Armenians heading to fight in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The 34-year-old ethnic Abkhaz born in Sochi (Russia) was appointed as new Abkhaz leader’s aide charged with international relations in June. His name came under the spotlight of Abkhaz politics in January, when he led a mob of opposition activists storming the “presidential headquarters” of former leader Raul Khajimba in Sokhumi, few days before the latter’s resignation.

Avidzba made his name after joining the ranks of local insurgents in Eastern Ukrainian territory of Donetsk in 2014, with whom he fought against the Ukrainian forces, adopting a nom de guerre “Abkhaz.”

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