Satellite Photos Show Alleged Location of Russia's New Black Sea Naval Base

Russia could be paving the way for the construction of a new Black Sea naval base in a breakaway territory, new satellite imagery appears to show, in a move that could risk widening the Ukraine war as Moscow attempts to shield its naval assets from Kyiv's forces.

Satellite images captured in the past few years, including since invading Russian troops crossed over into Ukraine in February 2022, indicate construction work and dredging at the port of Ochamchire in Abkhazia, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

The port could now handle larger cargo ships, the outlet said, citing officials in control of Abkazia.

The region of Abkhazia is internationally recognized as a part of Georgia, but it is controlled by de facto separatist authorities. Moscow has recognized Abkhazia as an independent state.

The region's leader, Aslan Bzhania, told Russian state outlet Izvestia earlier this year that Russia would establish a new naval base in Abhkazia.

"This is all aimed at increasing the defense capability of both Russia and Abkhazia," Bzhania said.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Russia has faced a number of setbacks in the Black Sea in the more than 21 months of all-out war with Ukraine. Kyiv has repeatedly attacked Moscow's Black Sea fleet—based largely out of the annexed Crimean city of Sevastopol—and the Kremlin has relocated some assets from the peninsula to its Novorossiysk base. A naval base at Ochamchire would put Russia's fleet much further east in the Black Sea, away from Ukraine.

Russia uses the Black Sea to launch attacks on Ukraine but lost its Black Sea fleet flagship, the Mosvka, in a humiliating setback early on in the war.

News of the new base in Abkhazia has raised concerns that Moscow could widen the war in Ukraine, pulling Georgia into the conflict. Tbilisi is hoping to join the European Union, which has supported Kyiv's resistance effort against the Kremlin.

"Russia's illegal move to establish a permanent naval military base in Ochamchire, Georgia's sovereign territory, constitutes a direct threat to Georgia, our EU aspirations and the Black Sea security," Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said in early October. "I call on the international community to firmly react, condemning this blatant provocation."

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said Russia is "already planning to build a third military base, in this case, a naval base on our territory, of course, without our permission."

"This is the result of occupation," he told the media.

"Such actions represent a gross violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia," Tbilisi's foreign ministry has said.

However, there is no "imminent threat," as Moscow would need time to establish a functioning base at Ochamchire, a Georgian official told the BBC.

"Even if they start constructing the base in Ochamchire, it will take them at least three years," the head of Tbilisi's foreign relations committee, Nikoloz Samkharadze, told the broadcaster. "We do not observe any moves to start construction in Ochamchire.

"We are concentrated on imminent threats, and not on threats that might come in the future."