Russia Alleges Asian Stink Bugs Were Artificially Created in Georgia

Russia’s Rosselkhoznadzor (Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) has alleged that the Asian stink bugs, which are now widespread throughout Georgia and its occupied region of Abkhazia, were artificially created in Georgia.

From April 2, Russia is prohibiting the import of certain products due to the "critical phytosanitary situation" in occupied Abkhazia, Russia’s Federal Phytosanitary Supervision Service reports. The Russian side made the decision in order to prevent the spread of the pest onto the Russian territory from occupied Abkhazia.

The existence of the Brown Marmorated bugs in the region was confirmed by monitoring conducted on March 24-25.

“So far, the Abkhaz side cannot guarantee that this problem will be resolved in the shortest possible time. It is not excluded that we are dealing with the use of biological weapons. There are several American bio-laboratories operating in Georgia and we do not know what they are doing there," said the spokesperson of Russia’s Federal Phytosanitary Supervision Service.

According to Georgian media, last year the de facto authorities of Abkhazia spent around 25 million Russian Rubles ($4.3 million) in the fight against Asian stink bugs, but without any tangible success, as the pest has doubled in the region this year.

It is unclear how long the ban will last, as Asian stink bugs multiply rapidly, making the elimination process difficult and sometimes known to take years.

Brown Marmorated bugs were first reported in Russian-backed breakaway Abkhazia in 2016, which inflicted significant damage to the nut harvest, the only income of the local population. 

By Thea Morrison

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Asian Stink Bugs Cause Russia to Ban Imports from Breakaway Abkhazia