He Could Not Have Done Otherwise! By Aslan Kobakhia

In this moving personal tribute, Aslan Kobakhia remembers Gennady Chanba, a celebrated Abkhaz commander who returned to his men against medical advice and was killed shortly afterwards in July 1993. His recollections offer an intimate portrait of Chanba’s courage, warmth and unwavering devotion to those he led during the 1992–1993 Georgian–Abkhazian war.

Translated from Russian by AbkhazWorld.

I met Brigade Commander Gena Chanba a couple of months before the summer offensive of 1993. By then, he was already a celebrated commander — one of those who had driven the enemy out of the Gagra district almost in a single sweep.

Preparations for the offensive were in full swing. Together with Apollon Shinkuba, Gena was forming a new brigade. He proved to be an exceptionally kind and considerate man, and from our very first meeting, a warm bond of trust developed between us.

Only a few days remained before the operation. General Dbar gathered the battalion commanders of the Second Brigade at a country house in Upper Eshera. Commanders of the different service branches were also invited. Among those present was Rafik Tskua, commander of the Afon–Eshera Battalion, which was stationed in the immediate area. Its positions lay directly opposite Tsugurovka, Akhabyuk, Kaman and Shroma, where the enemy’s forces were concentrated.

Staff officers from the Ministry of Defence had prepared a large terrain model of the proposed area of operations. Gena listened intently, taking in every detail of the reports on enemy deployments.

The Ministry’s headquarters had already assigned sectors of responsibility to all the battalions of the Second Brigade. General Dbar ordered the temporary attachment of the Afon–Eshera Battalion to the brigade, which was to enter the battle as soon as the Akhabyuk and Tsugurovka heights had been captured.

Rafik Tskua, however, put forward a suggestion:

“The most difficult objective along this axis is Mount Tsugurovka. We’ve been holding positions here for over a month. Our scouts have crossed the river repeatedly and carried out reconnaissance in force. We know exactly how to take it.”

But the battalion commander assigned to capture the height under the Ministry’s plan stood his ground.

“If you can take it, so can we!” he replied.

In situations like that, there was little point in arguing any further.

We entered the final phase of preparations. Gena and I met every day, reconnoitring the terrain we would soon have to assault. He was a wonderful man: he cared deeply for his soldiers and enjoyed a joke, but he could also be firm when circumstances demanded it.

Sadly, war rarely unfolds exactly as planned on a map. The brigade encountered serious difficulties from the very first day. Yet Gena never lost heart. He went to the front line himself, encouraging the men. After several days of exceptionally heavy fighting, our fortunes finally improved: Kaman and Shroma came under the control of the Abkhazian army. During the fighting for Shroma, Gena suffered a concussion from a blast. Around the same time, the brigade’s chief of staff, Apollon Shinkuba, was also severely wounded.

After only a couple of days in hospital, Gena rushed back to the front, to his men, against the doctors’ express instructions. He simply could not have done otherwise: the situation on the front line remained desperately difficult.

But barely an hour after his return, the brigade commander was killed in Shroma by a fragment from an enemy shell.

I reached the place where he had fallen half an hour later. General Dbar was already sitting there, tears glistening in his eyes. Until that day, I had never seen Sergei Dbar in such a state.

We had lost an outstanding, legendary commander — a man who was simply irreplaceable.

Thank you for your honour, your devotion to your homeland, your courage and your unshakeable faith in our victory!

I shall forever bow my head in your honour, Commander!

Aslan Kobakhia
Hero of Abkhazia and veteran of the Patriotic War of the People of Abkhazia, 1992–1993

Gennady Anatolyevich Chanba was born in 1956 in the village of Ordzhonikidze, in the Gudauta district.

He graduated from Akh-Lisopeli School No. 2 in 1974 and served in the Soviet Navy from 1975 to 1977. During his service, his parents received several letters of commendation from the commanding officer of his ship.

After completing three years of naval service, he entered the police academy in Yoshkar-Ola, in the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, in 1978.

He subsequently worked as a detective in the Criminal Investigation Department of the Yoshkar-Ola Directorate of Internal Affairs. He received two commendations for apprehending particularly dangerous criminals and was awarded the Medal for Impeccable Service and the Excellent Police Officer badge.

In 1987, Chanba was promoted to the rank of police captain.

Alongside his criminal investigation work, he studied at the Faculty of History. After graduating, he was appointed deputy head of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Yoshkar-Ola Directorate of Internal Affairs.

Chanba was on holiday in Abkhazia when the Georgian–Abkhazian war broke out. Together with a group of fellow villagers, he went to the Bzyb defensive line. In September 1992, shortly before the Gagra operation, he was appointed commander of the Gagra Battalion. The battalion carried out its assigned mission to liberate Gagra with distinction between 1 and 6 October 1992.

Following the liberation of Gagra, Chanba was appointed deputy commander of the Gagra garrison and promoted to major. When the Armed Forces of the Republic of Abkhazia adopted a brigade structure, he was appointed commander of the Second Brigade on the Gumista Front on 19 May 1993.

The Second Brigade was formed under his direct command. During the July operation, it delivered the main attack against the enemy and captured the strategic heights overlooking Sukhum. During the same operation, on 26 July 1993, he sustained a fatal shrapnel wound.

In 1994, Gennady Chanba was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Abkhazia.