A court in Sukhumi upheld the house arrest of those involved in the incident involving Russian political strategists.

The Court of Cassation decided to soften the pretrial detention measures for Khyna Dumava, Almaskhan Ardzinba, and Garry Kokai in the case involving the detention of Russian political strategists at the office of the Abkhazian Herald newspaper.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, Garry Kokai, Almaskhan Ardzinba, and Khyna Dumava have been placed under house arrest in connection with the incident at the Abkhazian Herald newspaper office. The defendants disagreed with the court's decision.

On February 19, 2026, the Cassation Collegiums for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of Abkhazia reviewed cassation appeals against the Sukhum City Court's February 12, 2026, rulings on house arrest for Khina Dumav, Almaskhan Ardzinba, and Garry Kokai, Apsnypress reported today.

Following the review, the Sukhum City Court's ruling on house arrest for Dumav, Ardzinba, and Kokai was upheld.                                                                                                                                 

Kokaya, Dumava, and Ardzinba are suspects in a criminal case related to an incident at the office of the Abkhazian Herald newspaper, the report states.

On November 5, 2025, on the eve of municipal elections, three Russian political strategists were detained at the office of the pro-presidential newspaper Abkhazian Herald, which was being published without permits. According to Abkhazian media, the political strategists were expelled from the republic. In late December, a court in Sukhumi found the actions of Russian political strategist Ivan Reva before the municipal elections to be violations of electoral law and fined him under three administrative offenses. In early February, participants in the incident with political strategists Eshsou Kakalia and Aslan Kmuzov were given a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the country and to behave properly.

As a reminder, the opposition demanded that the "Abkhazia Team" candidates, for whom Russians were campaigning, be removed from the municipal elections. On November 24, it became known that three suspects had been placed on the federal wanted list in a criminal case concerning an armed robbery in Abkhazia (against Russian political strategists). "The credible involvement of Kan Kvarchia, Eshsou Kakalia, and Khyn Dumava in the commission of this crime has been established; they have been placed on the federal wanted list," reads a statement on the website of the Sochi Department of Internal Affairs of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Krasnodar Territory. The damage caused was estimated at 1.9 million rubles. The municipal elections, which a team of Russian political strategists attended, were aimed at eradicating political competition, and opposition representatives who interfered with the election results were subject to criminal prosecution in Russia, Abkhaz politicians stated, calling on the president to protect citizens' rights and the republic's sovereignty. Abkhazian President Badra Gunba stated that Abkhazian citizens, regardless of the crime they are suspected of committing, are not subject to extradition to another country in accordance with the Constitution.