Satellite Images Reveal Construction of Russia's New Black Sea Fleet Base

Construction work has accelerated in recent months on a new Russian naval base in a breakaway region of Georgia, satellite imagery shows, as Moscow contends with Ukraine's persistent and often effective attacks further west in the Black Sea.

"Multiple buildings and perimeter features" are now visible in Abkhazia, with construction activity picking up since the start of 2024, investigative outlet Bellingcat reported on Tuesday.

Newsweek could not independently verify the imagery and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

The region of Abkhazia is internationally recognized as a part of Georgia, but it is controlled by de facto separatist authorities—as is the region of South Ossetia to the east. Moscow has recognized Abkhazia as an independent state, while Tbilisi considers it occupied by Russia. Georgia has broadly hoped to join the European Union, despite Tbilisi's accession plans being put on hold earlier this month.

Abkhazian leader Aslan Bzhania told Russian state outlet Izvestia in 2023 that Moscow would establish a new naval base in Abhkazia, designed to increase the "defense capability" of Russia and the breakaway region.

Satellite imagery from December 2023 indicated construction work and dredging at the port of Ochamchire, southeast of the region's main city, Sokhumi, the BBC reported at the time. The port could now handle larger cargo ships, the outlet said, citing officials in control of Abkhazia.

Since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv has consistently zeroed in on Russian assets dotted around the annexed Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin has controlled for a decade.

Ukraine has vowed to reclaim Crimea, and has used long-range missiles, as well as airborne and waterborne drones, to hit Russia's air bases, logistics hubs and Black Sea Fleet naval facilities in the southwestern port city of Sevastopol.

Kyiv does not have a major navy or large warships, but its strikes have forced Moscow to rein in its activity in the western Black Sea, where Ukraine can more easily threaten its fleet, according to British intelligence.

Russia relocated many of its vital assets from the port at Sevastopol further east to its Novorossiysk base in Russia's Krasnodar region. Ukraine has also targeted Novorossiysk.

A base at Ochamchire, southeast of both Sevastopol and Novorossiysk, would put Russia's Black Sea Fleet further from Ukraine's reach.

The satellite imagery shows "several new foundations," land being cleared and a new perimeter at the base "that would significantly expand the area of the base," Bellingcat reported. There is a new perimeter road linking the military base to the town of Ochamchire, according to the outlet.

Close to the harbor, "another foundation has been built since June 2024," Bellingcat reported.

Military outlet Naval News reported earlier this month that a Russian tugboat had arrived at the Ochamchire harbor from Novorossiysk.

A field has been cleared to the west of the military base, with a trench created in the center, according to Bellingcat, although it is not clear what function it would serve.

"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 Zourabichvili said in October 2023.

"I call on the international community to firmly react, condemning this blatant provocation."

The European Union separately said in October that Russia going ahead with reported plans for an Abkhazian base would "further increase tensions and threats to stability in the region."

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