Shooting near Parliament of Abkhazia: One MP killed

A shooting occurred near the building of the Parliament of Abkhazia in the city of Sukhum.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Gluuuum, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Abandoned House of Soviets. Sukhum, Abkhazia - panoramio (171)

Two MPs — Kan Kvarchia and Vakhtangi Golandzia — were injured, Sputnik Abkhazia reports with reference to the Ministry of Health of the republic.

Both deputies were hospitalised. One of them, Vakhtangi Golandzia, later died. Kan Kvarchia was wounded in the arm.

Acting Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic, Robert Kiut, said that the suspect in the shooting is MP Adgur Kharazia. He fled the scene.

Details

Sukhumi (see also other names) is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of the Republic of Abkhazia, a partially recognised state that most countries consider a part of Georgia. The city has been controlled by Abkhazia since the Abkhazian war in 1992–93. The city, which has an airport, is a port, major rail junction and a holiday resort because of its beaches, sanatoriums, mineral-water spas and semitropical climate. It is also a member of the International Black Sea Club. Sukhumi's history can be traced to the 6th century BC, when it was settled by Greeks, who named it Dioscurias. During this time and the subsequent Roman period, much of the city disappeared under the Black Sea. The city was named Tskhumi when it became part of the Kingdom of Abkhazia and then the Kingdom of Georgia. Contested by local princes, it became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 1570s, where it remained until it was conquered by the Russian Empire in 1810.