Russian occupation forces destroy church in Abkhazia
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Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili is calling on the global community to "properly assess” Russia’s "illegal actions” on the Georgian territory and take relevant measures.
On his official webpage, President Margvelashvili condemned the "vandalism” of Russian occupation forces that have allegedly destroyed a 19-century church and Polish cemetery in Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia to install a military base.
The President expressed "severe indignation” at the situation in Tsebelda village (Abkhazia) over the devastation of Georgia’s cultural heritage.
Margvelashvili believes this "deliberate act of vandalism” is a gross violation of international laws including the Hague Convention of 1954 on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
The Convention regulates the protection of cultural heritage during armed conflicts. It regulates the conduct of nations during war and military occupation in order to assure the protection of cultural sites, monuments and repositories, including museums, libraries and archives.
The United States Department of State says it "strongly opposes” the ratification of a military deal between Russia and Georgia’s western de facto Abkhazia region on creation of joint troops.
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The de-facto leadership of Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region has denied that a Georgian prisoner has disappeared from an Abkhazian prison facility, announced Georgia’s State Security Service.
Unidentified individuals have damaged icons and other items in Surb Khach Church which is located in Akhalkalaki, a town in Georgia’s southern region of Samtskhe-Javakheti.