State Duma committee backs Vyacheslav Gladkov as Russia’s new ambassador to Abkhazia

SUKHUM / AQW'A —  A State Duma committee has recommended the appointment of former Belgorod Region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov as Russia’s ambassador to Abkhazia.

Konstantin Zatulin, first deputy chairman of the Duma committee on CIS affairs, Eurasian integration and relations with compatriots, told Vedomosti on 23 June that the committee had supported Gladkov’s candidacy.

The post of Russian ambassador to Abkhazia has been held since May 2022 by Mikhail Shurgalin.

Gladkov led the Belgorod Region from 2021 until 2026. In mid May, Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted his resignation, submitted at his own request, and appointed Alexander Shuvaev as acting head of the region.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the time that Gladkov had worked for many years in extremely difficult conditions and had demonstrated a high level of effectiveness.

Abkhaz journalist Inal Khashig wrote that Gladkov’s expected appointment had not come as a surprise in Sukhum. According to Khashig, the possible personnel change had already been known in Abkhazia by the end of April, several weeks before Gladkov formally stepped down as governor of the Belgorod Region.

He suggested that Moscow was likely to have agreed the candidacy with the Abkhaz authorities in advance, before launching the formal procedure for Gladkov’s appointment to the diplomatic post.

Khashig also noted that Gladkov is widely regarded as having the support of figures close to Sergei Kiriyenko, the first deputy head of the Russian Presidential Administration, whose responsibilities include policy towards Abkhazia.

In his view, this could mean that Moscow’s policy towards Abkhazia will become more coordinated, including through the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Khashig argued that the replacement of the ambassador had become logical in the context of recent tensions between Moscow and Sukhum.

He wrote that the most serious crisis in Russian Abkhaz relations occurred during Shurgalin’s tenure, culminating in the early resignation of President Aslan Bzhania in November 2024. At the time, Khashig said, the Abkhaz opposition was portrayed in Moscow as an anti Russian force, although he argued that this did not reflect reality.

Khashig said it was difficult to assess Shurgalin’s role in shaping that narrative, but noted that the ambassador had demonstratively avoided contact with the Abkhaz opposition since taking up the post in 2022.

He said one of the main tasks facing Gladkov, if appointed, would be to restore normal communication with the full political spectrum in Abkhazia, as had been the case before Shurgalin’s tenure.