Exactly 30 years ago, on August 14, 1992, the Georgian-Abkhaz armed conflict broke out. After independence from the Soviet Union, Georgia wanted to maintain control over Abkhazia, while the latter insisted on secession from Georgia and gaining sovereignty. Unable to reach a compromise, the parties took up arms. The war began, lasted almost two years, and claimed 17,000 lives. Abkhazia defended their right to independence, but Russia did not recognize the independence of Abkhazia until 2008 against the backdrop of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict. To this day, Georgia refuses to recognize the independence of the rebel republic. Alexander Nemenov's photographs document the history of one of the bloodiest conflicts of the post-Soviet period.
Georgian soldiers in a building in Sukhumi in September 1992
Before the storm
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Abkhazia had the status of an autonomous republic within the Georgian SSR. In August 1990, against the backdrop of intensified ethnic conflicts in the region and the weakening of the central Government of the USSR, the Abkhaz authorities adopted the Declaration on the Sovereignty of the Abkhaz SSR. In April 1991, Georgia, which was heading for eventual secession from the Soviet Union, adopted the Declaration of Independence.
The unwillingness of the Abkhaz people to follow the same political path as Georgia led to an increase in contradictions in 1992. By August, the confrontation between Sukhumi and Tbilisi had entered an open military conflict, using aviation, artillery and other weapons.
Fighters of one of the Georgian military formations in the center of Sukhumi in September 1992
There is no shared sovereignty
In the spring of 1992, supporters of former Georgian President Zvyad Gamsakhurdia became more active in Abkhazia. This gave Georgian Deputy Prime Minister Tengiz Kitovanni the opportunity to accuse the leadership of the autonomous republic of violating the isolation agreement on concerted action.
At the same time, supporters of Zvyad Gamsakhurdia took several high-ranking Georgian officials hostage in Abkhazia. Georgia demanded their release in the form of an ultimatum. But this did not happen, and on the night of August 13-14, units of the Georgian National Guard entered the territory of Abkhazia under the pretext of protecting the railway, occupied the Gali, Ochamchira and Gurripsh districts, and went to the eastern suburb of Sukhumi. This provoked strong resistance from Abkhaz and other local ethnic communities. On August 14, the Abkhaz Supreme Council announced full mobilization. The war has begun.
Georgian soldiers near Sukhumi, September 1993
Who will win
On the Georgian side, not only units of the National Guard, but also various paramilitary organizations took part in hostilities. On the Abkhaz side - an armed militia of the local non-Georgian population. Like other wars in the emerging post-Soviet space, the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict was characterized by the participation of foreign volunteers. Thus, Ukrainian nationalists from the Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian People's Self-Defense Forces party, which is banned in Russia, came to the aid of Georgia, while Russian Cossacks and volunteers from the North Caucasus and Transnistria came to the aid of the Abkhazs.
The 10th separate airborne regiment of the Russian Armed Forces was sent to Abkhazia to evacuate Russian citizens and protect vital facilities. Since the beginning of the conflict, Russian troops deployed in the area have been repeatedly attacked by Georgian forces.
Georgian soldiers in Sukhumi, September 1992
August offensive
On August 18, Georgian troops captured Sukhumi and a day later Gagra. Offensive operations were also carried out from 30 August to 1 September, beginning the blockade of the Abkhaz city of Teku Archar.
The Abkhaz Government, led by the Chairman of the Supreme Council, Vladislav Ardzinba, moved to the Gudauta region.
House on fire on the outskirts of Sukhumi, September 1992
A dubious truce
On 3 September 1992, in Moscow, the Chairman of the State Council of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, and the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia, Vladislav Ardzinba, under the mediation of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, signed a document providing for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Georgian troops from Abkhazia and the return of refugees to the region.
Nevertheless, the parties to the conflict have not fulfilled any point of the agreement.
Georgian soldiers leave Sukhumi, September 1992
Great counteroffensive
On 15 September, the Abkhaz armed forces launched an unexpected counteroffensive and occupied Gagra. In early October, they liberated the towns of Leselidze and Gantiadi and regained control of part of the Russian-Abkhaz border.
At the same time, the Abkhaz Ministry of Defense was established.
Georgian soldiers in Sukhumi, September 1992
Strange war
In early October, Georgia mobilized 40,000 reservists and announced a decision to put into practice an earlier decree on the nationalization of weapons and property of Russian troops in the country. In response, the Federation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus announced its readiness to send the same number of volunteers to Abkhazia.
At the same time, Georgia has repeatedly accused the Russian army of not observing neutrality in the conflict, selling weapons to "separatists". In addition, volunteers from Russia fought side by side with the Abkhaz. In December 1992, a Russian military helicopter crashed in a rocket attack near the village of Lata. The cause of the tragedy has not yet been determined. As a result, at the end of 1992, a 10-day truce was concluded for the withdrawal of Russian troops and weapons from the conflict zone. After that, hostilities resumed.
View of Stalin's Villa in the Botanical Garden, September 1992
Protracted conflicts
In early 1993, Abkhazia launched an offensive against Sukhumi, occupied by Georgian troops. By the end of September, the city was under the control of Abkhaz troops, and a few days later they took control of the entire territory of Abkhazia.
Russian paratroopers next to the seismic laboratory in the village of Nizhnyaya Eschera, July 1993
Peacekeepers
In 1993, after the Georgian army was defeated in battles with Abkhaz soldiers, Russian peacekeepers were transferred to the area. In February 1994, an agreement was reached granting them the status of military bases on the territory of Georgia, but the Georgian Parliament did not approve the agreement.
Government building, burned down in September 1993 during the Abkhaz counteroffensive against the capital, Abkhazia. Sukhumi, February 1994
Uncompromising solutions
On 14 May 1994, Georgia and Abkhazia signed an agreement on a ceasefire and separation of forces in Moscow. According to him, a 12-kilometer security zone was created between Abkhazia and Georgia, where heavy military equipment should not be located.
Since June 1994, the Collective Peacekeeping Forces (CPF) of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have been deployed in the conflict zone with the task of controlling the cessation of hostilities on the territory of Abkhazia.
Nodar Nataze, left, leader of the Georgian Popular Front party, helps rescue the wounded in Sukhumi in September 1992
The conversation failed
In November 1997, within the framework of the Geneva negotiation process, a Coordinating Committee of the Georgian and Abkhaz sides was established, with the participation of representatives of the United Nations and Russia. However, due to events in the Kodori Gorge, its activities were suspended in 2001, and the Georgian paramilitary detachment "Hunters", with the support of the Chechen field commander Ruslan Graev's detachment, attacked the Abkhaz army.
An Abkhaz soldier inspects documents on the Russian-Abkhaz border in July 1993
Eternal argument
In the end, by the early 2000s, the settlement of the Abkhaz conflict failed to achieve a breakthrough. The parties were unable to reach a compromise on basic political issues, including security. The 1999 Abkhaz referendum also played a role, in which the overwhelming majority of the region's residents voted in favor of an independent state. Since then, Abkhaz leaders have refused to discuss further the political status of the region.
Abkhaz soldiers communicate with a local woman next to a destroyed bridge over the Inguri River, which separates Abkhazia from Georgia in February 1994
Victims and refugees
According to official data, about 16,000 people died during the hostilities in Abkhazia: 10,000 Georgians, 4,000 Abkhaz and 2,000 volunteers from South Ossetia and the North Caucasus Republic.
By early 1990, there were 537,000 people in Abkhazia, of which 44% were Georgians, 17% Abkhaz, 16% Russians and 15% Armenians. As a result of hostilities, 2-250,000-250,000 of them, mainly Georgians, had to leave their homes. The economic damage caused to the region's economy by the war and subsequent events is estimated at $10.7 billion.