SUKHUMI. Aug 13 (Interfax) - Russia's fifth Mangust (Mongoose) class patrol boat arrived in the Abkhaz port of Ochamchira on Thursday, Abkhaz television said.
At the port, maritime border guards were welcomed by area residents, local administration officials, and command officers from the Russian Federal Security Service Border Department in Abkhazia. According to the old marine tradition, the captain was served a roasted piglet.
Ships belonging to the Russian FSB Maritime Border Service started patrolling Abkhazia's maritime borders in December 2009. More than 1,000 Russian border guards are stationed in the republic under an agreement regarding joint efforts to protect the republic's national borders, signed between the Russian and Abkhaz presidents. The border guards are protecting Abkhazia's 350-kilometer national border, including 215 kilometers at sea and 98 kilometers on the ground.