Russia: Asserting Influence in the Black Sea

The Russian maritime border patrol chief said Sept. 15 that Russia will detain any ships illegally entering the waters of Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia. Moscow's warning is aimed at Georgia, which has used its navy to detain several vessels heading for Abkhazia. Now that Russia has officially threatened to capture ships, Georgia has lost another way to contain Abkhazia and will likely think twice before it detains a ship sailing to Abkhazia, as the Georgians are well aware that their navy is no match for the Russian navy.