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'{{Short description|Abkhazian military unit}} {{ infobox war faction | name = Bagramyan Battalion | native_name = | native_name_lang = | war = [[War in Abkhazia (1992–93)]] | image = | caption = | active = 1993–1995 | ideology = | leaders = [[Vagharshak Kosyan]]<br />[[Sergei Matosyan]] | clans = | headquarters = | area = [[Abkhazia]] | size = 1,500 | partof = {{army|Abkhazia}} | predecessor = | successor = | allies = | split = | opponents = [[File:Flag of Georgia (1990–2004).svg|23px]] [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] | battles = [[Sukhumi massacre|Battle of Sukhumi]] | url = }} The '''Bagramyan Battalion''' ({{lang-hy|Բաղրամյանի անվան գումարտակ}}; {{Lang-ru|Батальон имени Баграмяна}}), also known officially as the '''Independent Motorized Rifle Battalion named after Marshal Ivan Khristoforovich Baghramyan''' ({{Lang-ru|отдельный мотострелковый батальон и́мени маршала Ивана Христофоровича Баграмяна}}) was a unit formed in [[Abkhazia]] and predominantly composed of ethnic [[Armenians]] living in Abkhazia that fought together with separatist Abkhaz forces during the [[War in Abkhazia (1992–93)]].<ref name=PROFILE>[http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3568 Bagramyan Battalion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924185402/http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3568 |date=2006-09-24 }} [[MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base]]</ref> Named in honour of the Soviet Armenian Marshal [[Ivan Bagramyan]], the battalion fought against the forces of Georgia.<ref name=AGBU>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120207175314/http://www.agbu.org/publications/article.asp?A_ID=159 Abkhazia Armenians: Holding a home in an unstable territory], AGBU, 1 November 2004</ref> It was subsequently disbanded. A total of 1,500 Armenians participated in the war, a quarter of the Abkhazian army. Twenty Armenians were awarded the highest honor Hero of Abkhazia and 242 were killed in battle.<ref name="agbu">{{cite web |title=ABKHAZIA ARMENIANS: HOLDING A HOME IN AN UNSTABLE TERRITORY |url=http://agbu.org/news-item/abkhazia-armenians-holding-a-home-in-an-unstable-territory/ |date=1 November 2004 |publisher=Armenian General Benevolent Union |accessdate=16 December 2016 |archive-date=19 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919160150/http://agbu.org/news-item/abkhazia-armenians-holding-a-home-in-an-unstable-territory/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The first President of Abkhazia [[Vladislav Ardzinba]] praised the high discipline, organization, and accomplishments of the Bagramyan Battalion.<ref name="yerkramas">{{cite web |title=Вагаршак Косян: "Если мы не можем защитить себя, значит мы - не армяне" |url=http://www.yerkramas.org/article/26828/vagarshak-kosyan-%25C2%25ABesli-my-ne-mozhem-zashhitit-sebya--znachit-my---ne-armyane%25C2%25BB&prev=search |date=24 January 2012 |publisher=Yerkramas |accessdate=16 December 2016 |language=Russian |archive-date=20 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220213038/http://www.yerkramas.org/article/26828/vagarshak-kosyan-%25C2%25ABesli-my-ne-mozhem-zashhitit-sebya--znachit-my---ne-armyane%25C2%25BB%26prev%3Dsearch |url-status=live }}</ref> ==History== After the beginning of the [[Abkhaz–Georgian conflict]] in 1992, Georgian troops entered the territory of Abkhazia and started to commit atrocities against non-Georgians,<ref name=hrw>[[Human Rights Watch]] report [https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/g/georgia/georgia953.pdf GEORGIA/ABKHAZIA: VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS OF WAR AND RUSSIA'S ROLE IN THE CONFLICT] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909202054/https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/g/georgia/georgia953.pdf |date=2019-09-09 }}, March 1995, page 6</ref> including the Armenian population.<ref name="prognosis">{{cite web |title=Абхазская проблема: "революция роз" не состоится |url=http://www.prognosis.ru/news/secure/2004/6/1/abhaz.html |date=6 January 2004 |publisher=Prognosis.ru |accessdate=16 December 2016 |language=Russian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304214818/http://www.prognosis.ru/news/secure/2004/6/1/abhaz.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="redstar">{{cite web |title=Абхазия: тернистый путь к миру |url=http://old.redstar.ru/2008/11/19_11/3_01.html |date=19 November 2008 |publisher=old.redstar.ru |accessdate=16 December 2016 |language=Russian |archive-date=8 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108040124/http://old.redstar.ru/2008/11/19_11/3_01.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Regnum">{{cite web |title=Спартак Жидков: Армянский батальон в грузино-абхазской войне |url=https://regnum.ru/news/1463757.html |date=4 November 2011 |publisher=Regnum |accessdate=16 December 2016 |language=Russian |archive-date=13 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213090529/https://regnum.ru/news/1463757.html |url-status=live }}</ref> <ref name="agbu" /> The Armenians of the [[Gagra]] community, which had an Armenian majority, convened a meeting of leadership where it was decided to officially support the Abkhazs and take up arms against the Georgians.<ref name="agbu.org">{{Cite web |url=http://agbu.org/publications/article.asp?A_ID=159 |title=Abkhazia Armenians: Holding A Home In An Unstable Territory |access-date=2016-12-26 |archive-date=2015-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920082508/http://www.agbu.org/publications/article.asp?A_ID=159 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Moscow">{{cite web |title=Roots of the 1992-1993 Georgian-Abkhaz Armed Conflict |url=http://mdb.cast.ru/mdb/6-2002/ac/rgaac/ |publisher=Moscow Defense Brief |accessdate=16 December 2016 |archive-date=1 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401021854/http://mdb.cast.ru/mdb/6-2002/ac/rgaac/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="abkhazia">{{cite web |title=АРМЯНСКИЙ АКЦЕНТ ГРУЗИНО-АБХАЗСКОГО КОНФЛИКТА |url=http://abkhazia.narod.ru/lavrik-nov.htm |date=November 2012 |publisher=Abkhazia.narod.ru |accessdate=16 December 2016 |language=Russian |archive-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226215330/http://abkhazia.narod.ru/lavrik-nov.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> A Sukhumi-based Armenian newspaper reported: {{Quote|text=At first, we were trying not to mess around, but then the Georgians exerted so much cruelty against Armenians that we had to back the Abkhazians. They would invade the houses and rob and torture the people. In Labra, they seated a married couple on chairs with holes on the seats and burned them. They were raping the women. It was impossible to stay neutral.<ref name="agbu" />}} An Armenian motorized infantry battalion named after Marshal of the Soviet Union [[Ivan Bagramyan]] was established under [[Vagharshak Kosyan]] on 9 February 1993 and became part of the Abkhazian armed forces.<ref name="yerkramas" /><ref name="apsny">{{cite web |title=Когда засада является целью жизни |url=http://www.apsny.ge/cgi/press/print.cgi?id=20081019020679806818 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718005828/http://www.apsny.ge/cgi/press/print.cgi?id=20081019020679806818 |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 July 2012 |date=4 December 2012 |publisher=apsny.ge |accessdate=16 December 2016 |language=Russian }}</ref> Combat vehicles of the battalion were decorated with the Armenian flag. The battalion also included women in medical platoons.<ref name="yerkramas" /> The first fight that involved the battalion, under the command of a company led by Levon Daschyan, was during the second assault [[Sukhum]] on 15–16 March 1993. Afterwards the battalion captured a strategic and well-fortified bridge over the [[Gumista River]].<ref name="REN TV">{{cite web |title=Батальон им. Баграмяна |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B6vgEj30fg |publisher=REN TV |accessdate=16 December 2016 |language=Russian |archive-date=24 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924114218/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B6vgEj30fg |url-status=live }}</ref> The battalion was later joined by [[Nagorno-Karabakh Republic|Nagorno-Karabakh]] soldiers who fought in the ranks of the [[Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army]] for the [[First Nagorno-Karabakh War]]. They, as well as professional soldiers, including those employed under a contract, were involved in the preparations of the battalion. A second Armenian battalion was organized in Gagra. The estimated total of Armenians participants of the war is about 1,500, a quarter of the Abkhazian army.<ref name="agbu" /><ref name="abkhazia" /> In September 1993, after fruitless negotiations, the Abkhaz side started an operation against Georgian forces in the [[Sukhumi massacre|Battle of Sukhumi]], which was attended by both the Bagramyan Battalion. From 25–27 September, Armenian units marched deep into the city from the village Yashtuha and crawl down the street along the Besletka Chanba River. Armenians first came to the building of the Council of Ministers, the base of authority over the capital. During the storming of the city, Armenian soldiers captured 25 prisoners.<ref name="Regnum" /> After the capture of Sukhumi, the Bagramyan Battalion was deployed in the [[Kodori Valley]], where it was tasked to protect Armenian-populated villages. In March 1994, it began operations to capture the village of Lata. During these final stages, the battalion was commanded by [[Sergei Matosyan]], who was the only Armenian of the war to command Abkhaz troops.<ref name="Regnum" /> After the arrival of peacekeeping personnel, the battalion disbanded. Twenty Armenians were awarded the highest honor Hero of Abkhazia and 242 were killed in battle.<ref name="agbu" /> The first President of Abkhazia [[Vladislav Ardzinba]] praised the high discipline, organization, and accomplishments of the Bagramyan Battalion.<ref name="yerkramas" /> The battalion was reported to have been disbanded in 1995 or 1996. Georgian reports claimed it was still active in 1998 when a fire in one of administrative buildings of the power grid in Mziuri shortly before the [[War in Abkhazia (1998)|Six-Day War in Abkhazia (20–26 May 1998)]] was attributed to the battalion.<ref name="Politics of Terrorism: A Survey">{{cite book|last1=Tan|first1=Andrew T .H.|title=Politics of Terrorism: A Survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXerAgAAQBAJ&q=Bagramyan+battalion+terrorist&pg=PA137|publisher=Rutledge, London|isbn=9781136833366|date=2010-10-18|access-date=2021-09-09|archive-date=2021-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213090538/https://books.google.com/books?id=qXerAgAAQBAJ&q=Bagramyan+battalion+terrorist&pg=PA137|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.tkb.org/Incident.jsp?incID=11674 Bagramyan Battalion attacked Utilities target (May 10, 1998, Georgia)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050221080213/http://www.tkb.org/Incident.jsp?incID=11674 |date=February 21, 2005 }}, Information Source ''Tbilisi Prime-News''</ref><ref>Vakhtang Kholbaia, Raphiel Gelantia, David Latsuzbaia, Teimuraz Chakhrakia (trans. Nana Japaridze-Chkhoidze; 1999), [http://www.abkhazia-georgia.parliament.ge/Publications/Georgian/labyrinth_of_abkhazia.htm Labyrinth of Abkhazia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015656/http://www.abkhazia-georgia.parliament.ge/Publications/Georgian/labyrinth_of_abkhazia.htm |date=2007-09-30 }}, page 34. The [[Parliament of Georgia]], [[Tbilisi]].</ref> In 2001 Former members of the battalion later took part in defending the Armenian majority [[Gulripshi District]] from the Chechen militant groups of [[Ruslan Gelayev]].<ref name="Regnum" /> ==See also== * {{portal-inline|Abkhazia}} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Georgian-Abkhazian conflict}} [[Category:Abkhaz–Georgian conflict]] [[Category:Military units and formations of Abkhazia]]'