ZEKE Magazine: Spring 2023.2

Top right: Murtazi lives in Kartli, a former cardiology clinic
near the shores of the Tbilisi Sea, on the outskirts of the nation’s
capital. He has a daughter and new grandchild in the U.S.
Bottom right: Gulo wore this coat, representing a large share of
the family’s wealth, when she was forced to flee Abkhazia. She
and her husband, Oscar, are now among the last remaining
residents of the former Aia Sanatorium in Tskaltubo.
.
Long before the invasion of
Ukraine, Russian military
forces intervened in
multiple wars in Georgia;
first in Abkhazia in the early
1990s and later in South Ossetia.
Roughly a quarter of a million
people, mostly ethnic Georgians,
were displaced during the
conflicts. While many remained in
the areas bordering the conflict
zones, others relocated to Tbilisi
and other cities, often living
in large congregate housing
complexes. Continued hostility,
exacerbated by ongoing Russian
presence, has dimmed displaced
families’ dreams of returning
home. These images, and the
stories that go with them, document
their multi-decade struggle
for social and economic integration.
They also explore broader
questions regarding the treatment
of civilians displaced by armed
conflict broadly and the specific
humanitarian toll of Russia’s wars
against its neighbors.
ZEKE SPRING 2023/ 33