Abkhazian soldies cast their vote at a polling station in a military base in Sukhumi, Abkhazia, Georgia, 12 December 2009. Polling stations have opened in Abkhazia for the first presidential election since the republic formally broke away from Georgia last year. Abkhazia was recognized as an independent state by Russia in August 2008, after the Russia-Georgia war over South Ossetia. The only other countries to recognize the two republics have been Nicaragua and Venezuela.