Khamzat "Rocky" Gitsba was a participant in the 1996 hijacking of the MV Avrazya who was shot dead in 2007 in

Gudauta Gudauta ( ka, გუდაუთა, ; ab, Гәдоуҭа, ''Gwdowtha''; russian: Гудаута, ''Gudauta'') is a town in Abkhazia, Georgia, and a centre of the eponymous district. It is situated on the Black Sea, 37 km northwest of Sukhu ...

Early life and family

Khamzat Gitsba earned the nickname "Rocky" for his love of

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, after the film character

Rocky Balboa Robert "Rocky" Balboa (also known by his ring name The Italian Stallion), is a fictional title character and the protagonist of the ''Rocky'' film series. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who has also portrayed him in all eigh ...

. Gitsba was a geography graduate from

Abkhazian State University The Abkhazian State University is the only university in Abkhazia. It was founded in 1979 on the basis of the Sukhumi Pedagogical Institute. Its first rector was Zurab Anchabadze. The university consists the departments of physics and mathematic ...

. He worked for some time in the high school in the village of Duripsh. Gitsba fought in the 1992-1993 war with Georgia under the command of

Shamil Basayev Shamil Salmanovich Basayev ( ce, Салман ВоӀ Шамиль ; russian: Шамиль Салманович Басаев; 14 January 1965 – 10 July 2006), also known by his kunya "Abu Idris", was a senior military commander in the Cheche ...

. The Russian newspaper

Kommersant ''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...

reported that Gitsba's cousin married Basayev, but this has been denied by the Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Abkhazia.

Hijacking of the MV Avrazya

Khamzat participated in the January 1996 hijacking of the

MV Avrasya ''Avrasya'' is a Ro-Ro ferry that was hijacked in the Black Sea hostage crisis of 1996. Originally built in 1953 as the passenger ship ''Lazio'', she was converted to a Ro-Ro ferry in 1967. In 1979, she was sold to Greece and renamed ''Sant An ...

. In May 2006, he declared in an interview that it had been an act of desperation, meant to attract world attention and to stop the war in Chechnya, and that they had only used fake explosives and a hunting rifle.

Return to Abkhazia and murder

After being released from prison, Khamzat Gitsba returned to Abkhazia and became a member of the Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Abkhazia and an informal leader of Muslims in

. On 17 August 2007, around 13:30, Gitsba was shot in the centre of Gudauta, along with

Ufa Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...

resident Ruslan Assadulina. Gitsba died on the site of the shooting, aged 37. The masked killer had shot the pair through a lowered back window of a

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

stolen a few days earlier, using a machine gun with

suppressor A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a muzzle device that reduces the acoustic intensity Sound intensity, also known as acoustic intensity, is defined as the power carried by sound waves per unit ...

. After the attack, the police was unable to follow the perpetrator, about half an hour later it found the burning wreck of the car on the outskirts of town.

References

Abkhazian murder victims 2007 deaths Abkhazian military personnel Abkhazian religious leaders People murdered in Georgia (country) Deaths by firearm in Georgia (country) Abkhazian State University alumni Year of birth missing 2007 murders in Georgia (country) {{Abkhazia-bio-stub