A resident of Abkhazia confessed to the murder of a tourist from Russia.

A resident of Abkhazia, Edgar Abukhba, has been detained on suspicion of murdering a tourist from Russia, who had not been in contact with her relatives for three days. According to the investigation, he confessed to the murder during interrogation.

Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia reported that relatives of a resident of the Orenburg region born in 2000 had contacted the police in the Gagra district, as she had not been in touch for three days. According to preliminary data, the girl was vacationing in Gagra with a friend. They were supposed to leave on September 24, but the girl decided to stay in Abkhazia for a few more days and extended her rental agreement. However, the tourist was not at her temporary residence, and her phone was turned off.

"During the search activities conducted by the criminal investigation department in conjunction with the public security police of the Gagra district, a circle of people with whom the missing [Amina Bikbova] communicated was established. The operatives became suspicious of Edgar Garievich Abukhba, who was temporarily residing and working in Gagra, born in 2001, a resident of Gudauta, who met Amina Bikbova on the evening of September 23 on Ardzinba Avenue, after which they left by taxi. He was taken to the internal affairs department, where he confessed to the murder during interrogation," the message on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Abkhazia states.

When checking the testimony at the scene in the presence of witnesses, Abukhba indicated that he was alone with the girl in a rented room in the village of Psakhara, where during a quarrel he strangled her. Trying to cover up the crime, on the morning of September 24, the suspect borrowed a car from an acquaintance, loaded Bikbova's body, and took it to the area of the Bzyb Gorge, where he planned to drown it, but failed and left the body wrapped in a blanket in the bushes by a dirt road. The suspect threw the tourist's phone and belongings into trash containers on the Sukhum highway.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that conflicts around the behavior of tourists have increased in Abkhazia. For example, on August 2 in Sukhum, a resident of Cherkessk who came for vacation was attacked and hospitalized with a concussion and other injuries. On June 9, residents of Abkhazia demanded a response from the authorities regarding a tourist from Sochi appearing in Gagra wearing a hat with the image of the Georgian flag. On August 26, a conflict occurred between tourists and local residents at Lake Ritsa. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Abkhazia, two tourists sustained soft tissue injuries and a concussion; three residents of Abkhazia were taken to the police station.