Yesterday in Moscow, at the age of 63, the President of Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh, a politician under whom the independence of the republic was recognized by Moscow, died. The cause of death was lung cancer. On May 21, at the Moscow 83rd Clinical Hospital of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of the Russian Federation, he underwent surgery on his right lung. According to the official version, the French surgeon from Strasbourg Gilbert Masard and the Russian Nikolai Urazovsky removed bullous emphysema (air cavity), and the operation was successful. “I talked to him three days ago. The president was already getting out of bed, but two days ago he suddenly became worse. He lost consciousness,” the representative of the President of Abkhazia, Christian Bzhania, told RIA Novosti yesterday. “The doctors admitted that there were malignant tumors on the lung tumors, and it was the metastases that affected other organs. It was still cancer.”

The body of the President of Abkhazia will be delivered to his homeland tomorrow evening. On June 2, an official farewell ceremony will take place in the building of the Abkhaz State Philharmonic. On the same day, Sergei Bagapsh will be buried in his ancestral village of Dzhgerda, Ochamchira district.

By order of the head of the funeral commission, Vice President Alexander Ankvab, who serves as head of state, mourning has been declared in Abkhazia for the next three days. In addition, at an emergency meeting of the republic’s Security Council held yesterday morning, it was decided to strengthen the checkpoint on the border with Georgia.

The death of Sergei Bagapsh was unexpected for everyone. As Abkhaz political scientist Inal Khashig told Kommersant, now the leadership of the republic and the entire population are in deep shock. However, soon after the president’s funeral, the country will have to solve an important task - electing a worthy successor. Solving this problem is complicated by the fact that due to the transience of the disease and the suddenness of the exacerbation, Mr. Bagapsh did not have time to name his successor. Alexander Gabuev, Moscow

Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh dies