Battle of Tkvarcheli

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Battle of Tkvarcheli
Part of War in Abkhazia

The town's power plant was bombed in the first days of the siege and the town had to live without electricity for nearly a year
Date October 1992 to September 1993
Location Tkvarcheli, Abkhazia, Georgia
Result Secessionist victory
Belligerents
Flag of Abkhazia Abkhaz National Guard National Guard of Georgia

The Battle of Tkvarcheli was a series of military actions during the War in Abkhazia (1992-93), which took place in and around the town of Tkvarcheli between the Georgian troops on one hand, and Abkhaz forces and their allies on the other hand, from October 1992 to September 1993. The battle involved an uneasy and eventually unsuccessful siege of the town by the Georgians as well as inconclusive fighting in the surrounding villages. Russian aid, both humanitarian and military, was critical for the defense of the town which suffered a severe humanitarian crisis during the hostilities.

Contents

[edit] 1992

v • d • e
War in Abkhazia
Tkvarcheli - Gagra - Kamani - Sukhumi

Tkvarcheli is located in the eastern part of Abkhazia, which is presently de facto independent from Georgia, but internationally recognized as its part. According to the last pre-war census (1989), it had a population of 21,744, with ethnic Abkhaz (42.3%), Russian (24.5%) and Georgian (23.4%) communities but a bulk of the Georgian population left the town shortly after the Georgian-Abkhaz fighting erupted in August 1992.

Along with Gudauta on the Black Sea, Tkvarcheli became the separatists’ stronghold throughout the war. In October 1992, a Georgian contingent began to lay siege to the town, creating a severe humanitarian crisis in that region.[1] Since the town had a sizeable Russian community, the Russian military actively intervened in the crisis, delivering both humanitarian and military support to besieged Tkvarcheli. Russia military helicopters regularly flew to the town, supplying it with food and medicine, evacuated many civilians and assisting the defenders against the Georgian forces. Many Russian-trained and Russian-paid fighters were transported to the area to take part in the fighting.[2]

As several cease-fire agreements failed, the hostilities intensified towards December 1992. The fighting was marked by extreme confusion and frequently indiscriminate fire on all sides. The Georgians retaliated to the loss of Gagra to the Abkhaz forces commanded by the Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev by shelling Tkvarcheli. The Russian army attempted to reestablish an air bridge but, on December 14, 1992, suffered a loss of Mi-8 helicopter, carrying the evacuees, resulting in 52 to 64 deaths (including 25 children).[3][4] Although Georgian authorities denied any responsibility, many believed the helicopter was shot down by the Georgian forces. On 16 December, the government of Georgia requested from the Russians to evacuate their nationals from Abkhazia via other routes, foremost the Black Sea, but also to limit the number of missions flown from Gudauta, the main Russian air base in the area.[5]

[edit] 1993

The helicopter incident catalyzed more concerted Russian military intervention on the Abkhaz side.[5][4] As the secessionist troops intensified their efforts to take hold of the zone around the regional capital Sukhumi early in 1993, the fighting for Tkvarcheli also became fiercer and spilled into the neighboring villages when the besieged Abkhaz militias attempted several sorties. In February 1993, Abkhaz fighters attacked the Georgian village of Kvirauri, just outside Tkvarcheli, and took some 500 civilians hostage, threatening to kill them unless Georgian forces ended their offensive in the neighboring Ochamchire district.[6]

A temporary ceasefire allowed the Russians to carry out the largest humanitarian operation in Tkvarcheli on June 16, 1993, evacuating several hundreds of civilians with 30 Kamaz trucks and 2 buses through the corridor offered by the Georgian army. The Georgians claimed, however, that a great deal of weaponry and ammunitions were simultaneously delivered to Tkvarcheli.[7] A turning point in the battle occurred on July 14, 1993, when a Russian landing group ousted the Georgian unit from the dominant heights around Tkvarcheli.[7] The Abkhaz forces failed to relieve the siege, but the town became much less vulnerable to the Georgian fire.

On the morning of September 16, 1993, Abkhaz forces, supported by the strong reinforcements from the North Caucasus, broke a Russian-brokered ceasefire and launched simultaneous attacks against Sukhumi, Ochamchire and Georgian forces blockading Tkvarcheli. Georgians were caught in surprise and, after several days of intense fighting, Sukhumi fell to the secessionists on September 27, 1993.[8] Now, the Georgian troops at Tkvarcheli themselves came under the threat of being besieged and retreated. By September 29, 1993, the siege had finally been relieved.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ HRW (1995), p. 7.
  2. ^ HRW (1995), pp. 7, 51.
  3. ^ UNHCR, The Dynamics and Challenges of Ethnic Cleansing: The Georgia-Abkhazia Case, also in Refugee Survey Quarterly 1997, Volume 16, Number 3, pp. 77-109
  4. ^ a b HRW (1995), p. 31.
  5. ^ a b Georgia and Abkhazia, 1992-1993: the War of Datchas By Tom Cooper. Air Combat Information Group. September 29, 2003.
  6. ^ HRW (1995), p. 28.
  7. ^ a b Vakhtang Kholbaia, Raphiel Gelantia, David Latsuzbaia, Teimuraz Chakhrakia (trans. Nana Japaridze-Chkhoidze; 1999), Labyrinth of Abkhazia. The Parliament of Georgia, Tbilisi.
  8. ^ HRW (1995), p. 41.

[edit] References