Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, has confirmed that Ukraine will be landing strikes on the Russian fleet in Abkhazia, the occupied territory of Georgia.

Talking about Ukraine’s steps towards the liberation of the Crimean Peninsula, Zelenskyy remarked that the Russian military fleet "is no longer able to operate in the western part of the Black Sea and is gradually retreating from Crimea," Zelenskyy said during his speech at the Second Parliamentary Summit of the Crimean Platform.

"This is a historic achievement," he stressed.

"Recently, the Russian leadership was forced to announce the creation of a new base for the Black Sea Fleet – or what's left of it – on the occupied territory of Georgia, in the southeastern part of the sea, as far as possible from Ukrainian missiles and naval drones. But we will reach them everywhere."

At the beginning of October, Aslan Bzhania, the leader of non-recognized Abkhazia, stated in an interview for the Izvestia newspaper that Russia was planning to create a naval base on the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia called these actions a harsh violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and another provocative attempt to legitimise the illegal occupation of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region.

Abkhazia, located in the north-western part of Georgia on the Black Sea coast, started a war for separation from Georgia in 1992-93. After the forcible occupation of part of the Georgian territory by the Russian forces in 2008, the "independence" of self-proclaimed Abkhazia was recognized by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria.