Bagramyan Battalion in the context of Marshal of the Soviet Union

⭐ Core Definition: Bagramyan Battalion

The Bagramyan Battalion (Armenian: Բաղրամյանի անվան գումարտակ; Russian: Батальон имени Баграмяна), officially the Marshal Ivan Bagramyan Independent Motorized Rifle Battalion (Russian: отдельный мотострелковый батальон и́мени маршала Ивана Христофоровича Баграмяна), was a military unit during the War in Abkhazia (1992–93). Composed predominantly of ethnic Armenians, it fought on the side of separatist Abkhaz forces against Georgia. The Bagramyan Battalion was disbanded after the war.

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. The first President of Abkhazia Vladislav Ardzinba praised the high discipline, organization, and accomplishments of the Bagramyan Battalion.

↓ Menu

Bagramyan Battalion in the context of War in Abkhazia (1992–93)

The War in Abkhazia was fought between Georgian government and paramilitary forces, and a coalition of Abkhaz separatist forces and North Caucasian militants between 1992 and 1993. Ethnic Georgians who lived in Abkhazia fought largely on the side of Georgian government forces. Ethnic Armenians, who formed the Bagramyan Battalion and Russians within Abkhazia's population largely supported the Abkhazians and many fought on their side. The separatists received support from thousands of North Caucasus and Cossack militants and from the Russian Federation military forces stationed in and near Abkhazia.

The conflict overlapped in time with civil strife in Georgia proper (between the supporters of the ousted Georgian president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia – in office 1991–1992 – and the post-coup government headed by Eduard Shevardnadze).

View the full Wikipedia page for War in Abkhazia (1992–93)

↑ Return to Menu