BERSHUET Last year, just a few days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ekaterina Khodeli woke up to a nightmare.
In his dream, the Russians poured across the border into his home village in Georgia.
The dream was haunting and realistic. After all, Ekaterina had already experienced it once.
In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia and seized the estates of Ekaterina’s family just a few kilometers from Bershuet.
Ekaterina remembers the traumatic events of the war, how the family fled the Russian invasion from South Ossetia.
The fate of Ukraine touches deeply
The family settled in the village of Bershuet, where Ekaterina’s father’s family had a farm.
Bershueti is located right on the border of the occupied territory. The Russian military base can be clearly distinguished a few kilometers away.
When Russia moved troops to the borders of Ukraine, it raised fears of a Russian attack in Georgia as well.
– Putin appeared in my dream. It was terribly unnerving. I asked him why he does this, but he just said that it’s too late, the Russians are already in Bershuet, Ekaterina says.
Shortly after the nightmares, Russia invaded different parts of Ukraine.
Ekaterina, like the other villagers, strongly empathizes with the situation of the Ukrainians.
– Russia could just as well have attacked here. That fear is always there, says Ekaterina. What is happening to the Ukrainians is terrible for him.
Relatives pay ransom to the occupiers
Ekaterina shows the family’s apple farms in the valley. There is a sign at the edge of the apple orchard that forbids going any further.
It is a border marker erected by the Russians.
Ekaterina’s family has many hectares of land on the other side, where they cannot go.
Although the actual border fence has not been erected, it is dangerous to go to the wrong side.
– Many farmers have been arrested when they have accidentally gone to the wrong side, for example to pick up a runaway cow, says Ekaterina.
Detainees are usually released as long as their relatives on the Georgian side have paid the authorities of the occupied territory.
In Russia, several bases in South Ossetia
Ekaterina’s father started apple farms after the 2008 war.
– He wanted to set an example to others that it is possible to farm in the border area. If we don’t produce anything here, it will be easier for the Russians to expand the occupation zone, says Ekaterina.
There is no boundary fence erected here, as in many places. One reason may be Russia’s large base, which has a direct line of sight to the fields.
After the 2008 war with Russia, the EU’s civilian monitoring operation EUMM has patrolled the region. Its vehicles are often seen.
– They don’t stop to chat, but I’m happy about their presence. It seems that we have European friends, that we are not completely alone in this situation.
“Russians take advantage of Ossetians”
Three retired men are on duty at the bench in the center of the village of Bershuet.
They are worried about Russia’s intentions.
– You never know if the Russians will attack again. Who would protect us. You have to live with it, he says Sako Tsiklauri.
The men vividly remember the events fifteen years ago, when tensions between Russia and Georgia rose for a five-day war (you switch to another service).
At the center of the war were Abkhazia and South Ossetia located in Georgia, where war was fought when the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s.
The areas had been under Russian control since then. They had Russian troops and financial support was extensive. Russia still did not occupy the territories in the sense that border fences were erected elsewhere in Georgia.
In August 2008, the situation changed when a war broke out between Russia and Georgia.
– Russia says that that region over there is South Ossetia and we are Georgia. It’s not like that, Shalva Javakhishvili smirk.
The men reminisce about the times before the Russian occupation. At that time, Georgians participated in Ossetian weddings and events. There was no border of any kind, interaction was free and Georgians and Ossetians lived in the same villages.
Many Ossetians still live in Bershuet, for example, married to Georgians.
– Russians don’t love Ossetians. Right now they need the Ossetians and are using them against us. If the situation changes, they can kill them, says Tsiklauri.
Georgia’s color revolution unnerved Putin
Tensions between Russia and Georgia increased when the Georgian regime changed in the so-called Rose Revolution in 2003. Georgia became president Mikhail Saakashvili led by a pro-Western regime.
Saakashvili began to equip Georgia militarily. He wanted to return Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Georgian control.
It was important to achieve another goal. Georgia wanted the defense alliance to become a member of NATO because it would bring security against Russia.
At the NATO summit in Bucharest in April 2008, the situation escalated. No concrete membership process was opened for Georgia, but the summit declared that Georgia and Ukraine would one day be a defense alliance in NATO.
It annoyed Russian President Vladimir Putin. He began to prepare for the military (you transfer to another service) to the conflict with Georgia. The goal was to overthrow Georgia’s pro-Western regime and prevent rapprochement with NATO.
Russia organized several military exercises (switch to another service) and kept rapid reaction forces on standby along Georgia’s borders. Apparently, Russia had also moved special forces and volunteers to South Ossetia in the early days of August to reinforce the Russian forces there.
Local clashes intensified in the early days of August until Georgia on August 7 launched an attack to seize (you will switch to another service)To Tskhinvali, the most important town in South Ossetia.
Additional Russian troops immediately moved to South Ossetia through the Roki tunnel.
Russia also invaded Georgia outside of South Ossetia until a ceasefire was reached.
As part of the agreement, the EU’s civil security operation EUMM started patrolling the administrative border from October 2008.
Refugees are waiting to return to South Ossetia and Abkhazia
About three hundred thousand internally displaced people live in Georgia.
Many of them left their homes as a result of the 2008 war.
There are many refugee camps in Georgia. The Tserovan camp is located near the capital Tbilisi.
Identical, small houses line the straight streets. Each family has its own house. There are two thousand houses in this camp alone.
– Most of us fled because we were afraid of the Russians. The situation was difficult, especially for those who did not speak Russian, he says Tsitsino Meltauri.
He has lived in a refugee camp for fifteen years. Still, he dreams of a return.
– I miss everything from there. My big garden and house. Of course I would like to live there, says Tsitsino Meltauri.
Many internally displaced persons have been able to visit the occupied territory, but they are completely dependent on permits issued by the Russians.
They have always been difficult to get, the last three years practically impossible.