Vladimir Georgievich Arshba ( ; 8 May 1959 – 16 January 2018 ) was an Abkhaz soldier and politician who served as the first Minister of Defence of the Republic of Abkhazia , an unrecognised state , from 1992 until 1993 . He held the rank of Lieutenant general in the Abkhazian Armed Forces . Arshba graduated from the Tbilisi Higher Artillery Command School in 1980 and served with the Soviet Army in East Germany . In 1988 he was transferred to the Armenian SSR , and helped in the aftermath of the 1988 Armenian earthquake . Transferred again in 1989 , this time to the Abkhaz ASSR , Arshba was there during the 1992 – 1993 war against Georgia . He was appointed Minister of Defence in 1992 , but left the post in 1993 due to health reasons . He later served as an adviser to the President of Abkhazia , and head of the State Migration Services from 2009 to 2015
1988 Armenian earthquake
1988 Armenian earthquake
Vladimir Arshba