Bagramyan Battalion

The Bagramyan Battalion (Armenian: Բաղրամյանի անվան գումարտակ) was a battalion formed in Abkhazia, Georgia and predominantly composed of ethnic Armenians living in Abkhazia that fought together with separatist Abkhaz forces during the War in Abkhazia (1992–93).^[1] Named in honour of the Soviet Armenian Marshal Ivan Bagramyan, the battalion's declared purpose was to expel Georgian forces from Georgian territory and support Russo-Abkhazian forces.^[2]

On 10 May 1998, during hostilities leading to Six-Day War in Abkhazia (20–26 May 1998), there was a fire initiated on one of administrative buildings of the power grid in Mziuri. No one was injured in the attack. The Tbilisi-based Prime-News agency reported it was done by the members of the battalion.^[3] According to the official Georgian reports, the battalion was dispatched by the de facto Abkhaz authorities to the predominantly Georgian-populated Gali district specifically for punitive operations.^[4]

References

1. Bagramyan Battalion MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
2. Abkhazia Armenians: Holding a home in an unstable territory, AGBU, 1 November 2004
3. Bagramyan Battalion attacked Utilities target (May 10, 1998, Georgia), Information Source Tbilisi Prime-News
4. Vakhtang Kholbaia, Raphiel Gelantia, David Latsuzbaia, Teimuraz Chakhrakia (trans. Nana Japaridze-Chkhoidze; 1999), Labyrinth of Abkhazia, page 34. The Parliament of Georgia, Tbilisi.