DONETSK (Realist English). The Abkhazian statesman, military commander and Hero of the DPR Ahra Avidzba answers these and other questions of Realist Information Agency.
You have made a significant personal contribution to the defense capability of the DPR. Now Abkhazia has recognized the independence of the DPR and the LPR. With what feelings did you meet this news?
Akhra Avidzba: With exceptionally positive. What other assessment can I give if Russia is our ally? We shouldn’t comment on anything at all. We must totally and completely stand by each other. Abkhazians, Ossetians, Armenians… there is no difference — we are all from the post-Soviet space. We all speak Russian, we think in Russian. We must fight and resist evil together.
Abkhazia, which itself has passed the difficult path of the national liberation struggle, has been recognized by Russia. We are freedom fighters. We have also been demanding recognition from our current and previous authorities for many years. The people endured and demanded. Russia gives us its shield, it helps us with the economy. We have a strategic alliance with Russia.
We understand the people of Donbass. After all, we have experienced all this ourselves, striving for independence for so many years!
In Donbass, there was a struggle for their ethnicity, for their flag, for the right to think and speak in their native language. I have been trying to achieve this for 8 years, I have made every effort! I am happy that, at least now, Abkhazia has recognized the independence of the republics of Donbass! It didn’t matter to me that it happened in my time. It was important to me that it just happened!
How do you assess the situation in the zone of a special military operation?
Akhra Avidzba: As an individual and a citizen who holds a machine gun in his hands, I rate the operation as “five” (A+). Perhaps they will give themselves a stricter assessment in the Army, but I will say this: they are going forward.
Molotov cocktails are thrown at our guys, but despite the threat to their life, they do not respond. That says a lot. It is necessary to separate nationalists and civilians. We didn’t come here with a war, no matter what anyone might say! We want to live in brotherhood and peace with our neighbors.
The task of our journalists is to show everything as it is. Ukrainian military officers show staged and expired shots. And people eat it. However, before the foot of a Russian soldier stepped there, it was necessary to destroy their propaganda channels by hitting cellular communication towers. Then it would have happened like in the Crimea: they would have surrendered in parts.
Before applying pinpoint strikes, our troops warn, giving the opportunity to leave the unit. That’s why there are so few casualties. That’s why for now we’re sneaking in.
We cannot lose Ukraine. We have to arrange it. This is a country that was the foundation of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Except for Russia, the successor of the USSR, no one deserved a single centimeter of the former Ukrainian SSR. We have no right to squander even Lvov. The Ukraine cannot be divided, it must become part of Russia entirely.
The special military operation continues the symbolism associated with the Olympic movement. What I mean is: during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Georgia treacherously attacked South Ossetia and Abkhazia. As a result of the war, Russia recognized the independence of Ossetia and Abkhazia. Now, it’s 2022. The Beijing Olympics are back. Russia has recognized the independence of the DPR and the LPR. That’s why I want the Olympics to be held more often in the Chinese capital…
How do you view the further development of events after the end of the military phase of the operation?
Akhra Avidzba: I believe that after its completion, the main burden will fall on the Russian expert community and intellectuals, who should help the healthy forces of Ukrainian society to carry out the denazification. And denazification must not be formal, but real. They should make sure that books that preach a misanthropic ideology should be withdrawn from libraries and from the market. We need to make sure that the lies of the ideologues of nationalism are exposed publicly!
