Abkhaz people
By 2010, Ardzinba's health was in decline and had been for some time. Ardzinba died on 4 March 2010, at the age of 64. He was in the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow at the time. He had been escorted there the previous week. The cause of death was not released to the public. He is survived by his wife and daughter. The President of Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh, paid tribute: "His service to the Abkhaz people was boundless". Three days of mourning were declared in Abkhazia in remembrance of Ardzinba.