De facto Abkhaz authorities reject Tbilisi’s offer of support to quell raging fires
Local media reported yesterday that the forest fires are approaching homes in the town of Gagra, Russian-occupied Abkhazia. Photo: Temur Kove.
Tweet 
Share
The de facto authorities of the Russian-occupied Abkhazia region say that they do not need the support of the central Georgian government to extinguish raging forest fires in the area.
Local media reported yesterday that the fires were just 150 meters away from homes in the town of Gagra.
Sokhumi does not need Tbilisi’s help to extinguish forest fires. Our firefighters are coping with the situation,” de facto head of Abkhaz security council Sergei Shamba stated.
De facto Abkhaz President Alsan Bzhania said that he is in round the clock communication with the heads of the districts where the fire rages.
De facto Abkhaz authirities claim that they are coping with the situation. Photo: 1TV.
Georgian State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality Tea Akhvlediani stated earlier today that the central Georgian government has offered help to the de facto authorities immediately after the first fire was reported in the region last week.
She said that the central Georgian government has also offered a helicopter to help fight the fires.
However, Akhvlediani stated that the de facto authorities have refused to receive the support.
She said that Tbilisi is concerned by the fires in Abkhazia ‘which have seriously affected the environment and the local population.’
Georgian firefighters have contained three of the remaining seven fires in western and central Georgia.
Nine hotspots of fires remain in western Georgia and 350 firefighters with 40 fire trucks and a border police helicopter are trying to extinguish them, the Georgian Emergency Management Service stated earlier today.
One hundred of 105 fires in western Georgia have been extinguished by more than 500 firefighters, while the fire still rages in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Gali district also in western part of the country.
Firefighters are working to extinguish a fire that broke out in the fields of Georgia’s western Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti municipality.
Three out of the six remaining wildfires in western Georgia have been contained, the Emergency Management Service of the Georgian Interior Ministry announced earlier today. Meanwhile, local Abkhaz news agency Apsnypress has also reported that the fire approaching homes in Gagra has been contained.
A total of 300 fires reported in Georgia since January 4, 2021 have been extinguished. The Emergency Management Service stated earlier today that over 700 fire-fighters, hundreds of fire trucks and a border police helicopter have been working to contain the fire. Meanwhile, hotspots in Georgia’s Russia-occupied region of Abkhazia remain active.