A truck rammed the gates of parliament in the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia on Friday as hundreds protested against an investment agreement with Moscow that some Abkhaz fear will price them out of the property market, Reuters reports.
Two people were injured in the clashes, Russia's RIA state news agency cited local emergency services as saying. Russian media showed a truck ramming into the gates surrounding the parliament in the capital, Sukhumi.
Most of the world recognises Abkhazia as part of Georgia, from which it broke away during wars in the early 1990s, but Russian money has poured into the lush sub-tropical territory where Soviet-era spa resorts cling to the Black Sea coast.
Abkhazian opposition leaders say the agreement with Moscow, which would allow for investment projects by Russian legal entities, would price locals out of the property market by allowing far more Russian money to flow in.
Other footage published by local Telegram channels showed protesters tying rope to the metal gates and attempting to tear them down.
Earlier this week Abkhazia's self-styled president, Aslan Bzhania, held an emergency security council meeting after protesters blocked a key highway and rallied in central Sukhumi to demand the release of four activists.
