Next thing I know you're going to tell me Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia is a real, sovereign country and totally not just Russia invading a neighbor.
Well, I had to look this up on Wikipedia, but in a nutshell, that is roughly correct. To be precise, Abkhazia is a de facto independent state, and has been since the Georgian-Abkhaz war of 1992. Russia only recognised its independence in 2008, probably in response to Georgia's plans to join NATO.
Not sure of you are agreeing with what I said above, or disagreeing. Can you re-read the thread carefully and clarify?