Abkhazia Marks Volunteer Day, 15 August
The volunteers in front of the headquarters of the Confederation of the Peoples of the Caucasus, Gudauta, 1992.
SUKHUM / AQW'A — Volunteer Day in Abkhazia is observed every year on 15 August. It honours the men from the North Caucasus, Türkiye and Syria who came to fight on Abkhazia's side during the Patriotic War of the Abkhazian People, 1992 to 1993.
On 15 August 1992, one day after Georgian forces invaded Abkhazia, the first group of volunteers reached Gudauta. It was led by Sultan Sosnaliyev and drawn from the republics of the North Caucasus.
More than 2,300 volunteers took part in the fighting on Abkhazia's side over the course of the war. Of these, 294 were killed defending Apsny. Fifty-one volunteers were posthumously awarded the title Hero of Abkhazia, up to 300 received the Order of Leon, up to 700 received the medal 'For Courage', and nine received the Order of Courage.
The day's central events are held in Gudauta, the hero-city that served as the headquarters of the Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus during the war. The programme begins at 11:00 with the laying of flowers at the monument to volunteers killed in the war, continues at 12:00 with a visit to the Museum of Military Glory, and concludes at 12:30 with a ceremonial assembly at the House of Culture.
Volunteer Day was first marked formally on 15 August 2012, on the initiative of the then prime minister of Abkhazia, Leonid Lakerba. On 8 August 2013, the then president, Alexander Ankvab, signed amendments to the Law on Holidays and Memorial Days of the Republic of Abkhazia, establishing 15 August as a working holiday under that name.
Vakhid Kerimov, chairman of the Association of Chechen Volunteers of the Patriotic War of the Abkhazian People 1992 to 1993, known as 'Wolf Pack', and a holder of the Order of Leon, attended the ceremonial assembly in Gudauta and shared his recollections of the war.
Kerimov said the decision to defend Abkhazia had been driven above all by a sense of comradeship and a wish to support a people in a difficult situation.
'Today is Volunteer Day', he said. 'Not everywhere, and not by everyone, is this day marked, but in Abkhazia volunteers are honoured and remembered. It is especially important to us that the mothers of our fallen comrades are present here today. We value this greatly.'
He also stressed the importance of keeping alive the memory of those who fought.
'We remember well those named by the vice-president of Abkhazia, and our other comrades', he said. 'They went forward, and we followed them. That is how the volunteer movement took shape.'
'No volunteer came here intending to go home without finishing what he had started', Kerimov added. 'We all went with one intention: a one-way journey.'
He thanked Abkhazia's leadership for keeping the volunteers' memory alive, noting that representatives of public organisations and veterans are invited to Abkhazia every year for the Volunteer Day commemorations.