Masked attackers stormed a polling station in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia Saturday, briefly disrupting voting in a second round of presidential elections marred by tensions over Russia’s influence.
Abkhazia is recognised by most of the world as Georgian territory, but has been under de-facto Russian control since a brief 2008 war between Moscow and Tbilisi.
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“At around 7:30 p.m. (1630 GMT) a group of up to 20 armed masked people attacked a polling station,” Abkhazia’s prosecution service said.
The incident took place in a secondary school in the district of Gantiadi, known in Abkhaz as Tsandrypsh, it added.
The attackers threatened election officials and police officers, “damaged the ballot box and fled from the scene of the crime”, it said.
Polling stations closed at 8:00 p.m. (1700 GMT), according to local media.
The region’s pro-Kremlin president Aslan Bzhania resigned last November amid mass demonstrations against a proposed investment deal with Russia.
Critics feared it would lead to uncontrolled construction in the lush Black Sea region.
He was the third Abkhazian leader to resign due to protests since 2014.
The self-proclaimed republic’s vice president and acting leader Badra Gunba, close to the former pro-Moscow administration, is running against Adgur Ardzinba, who was aligned with the protesters.
Results from the first round showed Gunba winning around 46% of the vote, while Ardzinba had around 37%.
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A winner from the second round has not yet been declared, according to local media.
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