For years Russia has been issuing passports to Abkhaz and South Ossetia residents, etc..
I haven't researched this yet for myself. But if this is true, this has the earmarks of an operation, by Russia, against Georgia.
Russia has had close ties with both regions since they declared their independence (and before) from Georgia in 1992. There are Russian populations in both ares, so I would not be surprised if they are given Russian passports.
There has been tension between Georgia and Russia for years. You would have to ask the Georgians why they decided to disrupt the status-qua that existed for the past sixteen years.
I haven't researched this yet for myself. But if this is true, this has the earmarks of an operation, by Russia, against Georgia.
Here's an article that has a some what different take on it...
Leaving aside the question of Russian interference (see below), the larger concern has been that Georgia might be tempted to use its newfound military prowess to resolve domestic conflicts by force.As Sergei Shamba, the foreign affairs minister of Abkhazia, told me in 2006: “The Georgians are euphoric because they have been equipped, trained, that they have gained military experience in Iraq. It feeds this revanchist mood… How can South Ossetia be demilitarized, when all of Georgia is bristling with weaponry, and it’s only an hour’s ride by tank from Tbilisi to Tskhinvali?”
One of the U.S. military trainers put it to me a bit more bluntly. “We’re giving them the knife,” he said. “Will they use it?”