On October 23, Vadym Skibitsky, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Defence Intelligence Service, stated that the Russian occupiers of Crimea intend to move their warships from the Bay of Sevastopol to the Georgian territory of Abkhazia. 
Skibitsky claimed that this calculated move comes after the Ukrainian Defence Forces in Crimea have increased the military threat on the peninsula through a series of attacks and special operations. The spokesman said: "The Russians have been dredging in the town of Ochamchire in Abkhazia and rebuilding the port infrastructure in some places to ensure that warships can be based there. There is active work going on there. 
Skibitsky went on to say that although some Russian ships had been moved to Novorossiysk, the small port was unable to accommodate the entire Russian Black Sea Fleet. "That is why the Kremlin decided to use the occupied Georgian territory," he concluded.
As previously reported by Caucasus Watch, Aslan Bzhania, the de facto president of separatist Abkhazia, gave an interview to "Izvestia" in which he mentioned the agreement on the location of a new permanent Russian naval base in the Ochamchire district.