In the aftermath of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, Russia recognized Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia, as a fully independent country.
Abkhazia, Once Called the "Russian Riveria"
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Above the Monastery, Christian pilgrims have left icons in a mountainside grotto, where Simon the Zealot, one of the 12 Apostles, is believed to have lived. (V. Undritz/VOA)
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Looming over Freedom Square in Sukhumi stands the bombed out ruin of the Georgian military’s last headquarters, untouched since they lost control of Abkhazia in the summer of 1993. (V. Undritz/VOA)
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Mold spreads over a Lenin statue standing outside the gutted shell of a Georgian language school in Bzipta, Abkhazia. (V. Undritz/VOA)
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Images of war heroes are superimposed on the Abkhaz flag, with the inscription in Russian and Abkhaz: “For the peace and freedom of Abkhazia!” (V. Undritz/VOA)