Badra Gunba’s Special Test Flight: A 'Masterclass' in Election Propaganda

SUKHUM / AQW’A — Today, on 7 February, the long-dormant Sukhum airport received a ‘test’ flight from Moscow. The event was heralded as a historic moment, the first flight in over 30 years. However, rather than being a routine milestone in infrastructure development, it became yet another blatant episode of election propaganda for the Kremlin-backed presidential candidate, Badra Gunba.

The state news agency ApsnyPress, along with Russian outlets SputnikAbkhazia and RT, eagerly amplified Gunba’s presence at the event. Only he and his statements were mentioned, as if he was the one who led Abkhazia or was behind this project. Never mind that Sukhum airport has accommodated similar ‘test’ or emergency landings in the past, this time, it was given the full state-orchestrated spectacle, complete with national dances and carefully curated media coverage. The question is: why was Badra Gunba, a mere presidential candidate, taking centre stage instead of the acting president, Valery Bganba?

The answer is painfully obvious. Gunba recently returned from Moscow, and in a convenient stroke of ‘luck,’ Abkhazia’s power crisis, long an issue of public frustration, suddenly evaporated. A miracle? Hardly. More like an artificially prolonged crisis, cynically resolved at the perfect moment to bolster Gunba’s image as a problem solver. The Russia-backed candidate, who has nothing substantive to offer the electorate, is now being marketed as the man who will bring prosperity, by those very forces that helped create the crisis in the first place.

But the theatrics did not end there. The ‘test’ flight landed at an airport that, contrary to the grand narrative, was already functional and had previously received Russian officials. This, of course, was conveniently omitted in the triumphalist reports from Russian media. Even more laughably, the very infrastructure improvements hailed as the result of private Russian investment had, in fact, been largely funded by the Abkhazian state budget long before any private investor stepped in. Details like these, however, had no place in the carefully crafted campaign spectacle.

Last week, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Administration Sergey Kiriyenko visited Abkhazia. During his visit to Sukhum Airport, he held several meetings. Interestingly, in one of these meetings, Badra Gunba was seated directly in front of Kiriyenko.

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Later, the Abkhaz Presidential Press Service issued a statement regarding presidential candidate Badra Gunba’s participation in a meeting with Russian official Sergey Kiriyenko on the reconstruction of Sukhum Airport. The statement clarified that Gunba had resigned from his duties and took leave upon registering as a candidate. Under Abkhazian law, he cannot perform vice-presidential functions during the campaign, including overseeing airport reconstruction efforts. His participation in the meeting was deemed a direct violation of electoral regulations.

ApsnyPress made sure to use Gunba’s photo front and centre, capturing him in the role of a statesman responding to journalists. Sputnik Abkhazia reinforced the narrative by highlighting his grand promises of expanded flight routes and economic revival. RT followed suit, faithfully echoing Gunba’s vision for increased connectivity with Russian cities. The fact that none of these outlets even mentioned the interim president is telling. This wasn’t a state achievement, it was a campaign stunt dressed up as national progress.

In a further absurd twist, the entire episode seemed to confirm what many already suspected, that Gunba’s victory had been decided not in Sukhum, but in Moscow, long before a single ballot was cast. Why waste time with a costly, unpredictable election in Abkhazia when the outcome could be preordained in Russia’s capital? After all, Gunba’s campaign was spearheaded by political veterans who have navigated every possible political tide in Abkhazia, ensuring that the right levers were pulled behind the scenes.

To add to the spectacle, high-ranking Abkhaz officials, including "Vice President" Beslan Bigvava and administration head Aleksandr Ankvab, were conveniently present to welcome the "newly elected" president in all but name. A red carpet, borrowed from the corridors of parliament, was even rolled out in his honour. And while there were no brass bands to mark the occasion, most of the instruments had long since been scrapped to cover other budgetary shortfalls, the national anthems of Russia and Abkhazia played dutifully in the background.

A 32-gun salute was fired to celebrate the arrival, symbolising each year the airport remained inactive. The irony? The man overseeing the honorary artillery unit was none other than former President Aslan Bzhania, who, after five years in office, had failed to secure a fraction of what Gunba supposedly achieved in just a few days as a candidate. 

This strategic media orchestration is not surprising. Russian state-backed media has long perfected the art of manipulating public perception in favour of its preferred candidates, using a toxic mix of smear campaigns against the opposition and manufactured success stories for its allies. In this case, the goal is clear: to anoint Gunba as the inevitable winner before a single vote is cast.

For those paying attention, the script is tired and predictable. A long-standing infrastructure project suddenly materialises just in time for elections. Energy shortages, unsolvable for years, vanish overnight. The state-controlled press lavishes attention on the government’s chosen candidate while conveniently silencing dissenting voices. This isn’t governance; it’s political theatre.

But the real insult to the people of Abkhazia is the belief that they will buy into this charade. The rushed reopening of Sukhum airport was never about serving the people, it was about serving the ambitions of Badra Gunba and his Moscow patrons.

The real question is: will voters reward this cynical display, or will they see through the propaganda for what it truly is?