Why would Russia support Abkhazskaya..... a western style republic?

Question

This is my extremely limited understanding. Abkhazskaya is a republic of Georgia, and wants to be independent of Georgia, who wants their own independence from Russia. Why then, would Russia, who seems to be so fearful of western influence, support Abkhazskaya, who wants to become a western style republic? Or do I have this all wrong?

Answer 1

Because Georgia and Russia are historic enemies. Georgia is an independent nation aligned with NATO and the West - it even has troops in Iraq. Russia supports anything which would harm Georgia.