On the night of Aug. 9, everything changed No bombs were dropped onto Tbilisi itself, but the character of the city changed overnight, Georgia was at war
I spent four days in Tbilisi, two of which were marvelous – a trip to the ancient land of the epic 12th Century poem, Knight in the Panther’s Skin. People were friendly, the weather was beautiful, the food was delicious and the wine, well, I don’t need to speak about Georgian wine, its taste speaks for itself.
But on the night of Aug. 9, everything changed. No bombs were dropped onto Tbilisi itself, but the character of the city changed overnight. Outdoor cafes were still full with people, but now they were mostly discussing politics and watching news from the conflict zone. Internet cafes were full of foreign tourists trying to change their flights and get out quickly. I did too. The $140 price I paid for my ticket to Tbilisi grew to $550 for my return trip to Ukraine.
My Georgian friends were crying. Their friends and brothers were mobilized and sent to the war zone. Another friend of mine was stuck in a minibus on the way to Gori, when Russian “peacekeepers” started bombing the city. As we learned of the bombs dropped on Gori and Poti, two cities outside the territory of South Ossetia, we were both shocked and frightened.
Now people with Georgian national flags were all over Tbilisi. Many demonstrations against the war and against the Russian presence in Georgia took place. I saw Georgian refugees from Tshinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, standing by the parliament. Most of them lost everything in few days. These people didn’t want Russia or Georgia to win. They just wanted the fighting to stop.
My American friend Nicole was evacuated by the American embassy to Yerevan, Armenia. The Ukrainian embassy in Georgia also offered me a ride in a military plane to Ukraine, but I decided to get back on my own. On Sunday night, the Tbilisi international airport was deserted – only a couple of flights were not cancelled and my flight to Kyiv was one of them.
Just 15 minutes before departure, I experienced war myself – a bomb, dropped by a Russian airplane, exploded across the landing field, just 200 meters from me. All passengers were immediately evacuated, but after a hour we departed.
The only thing I can think now is for the war to stop and an end to the bombing of Georgia, homeland of my friends Lika, Eka, Mariam and many others who don’t deserve their lives to be broken with bombs.
