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Behind The Poti Lines

Don't Antagonize The Russians!

August 25, 2008
1 p.m. local time (9 a.m. GMT)

I found out that a young man got beaten up this morning. Reportedly, he was drunk, and approached the Russians -- no one knows what exactly he said. In any case, he was severely beaten up.

Yesterday they detained some AP reporters for a couple of hours. They were very aggressive toward the reporters, destroying their equipment and shouting that everyone who would try to film them would share the same fate. In the end, the reporters were released, and they went to Batumi.

Such incidents aside, as I said, life in Poti is getting back to normal. The grocery market is working, shops are open, offices are functioning. Food prices have not increased. Funnily enough, the only shortage that occurred during the days of the bombardments was for spicy herbs. Everything else was available.

Since the Russian forces have left the actual town and have moved to the outskirts -- and they are no longer seen on the streets -- people who fled have now returned to Poti. Families have brought back their children. I did the same -- my kids are also back here now.

The overall atmosphere remains tense of course. People are quite anxious and emotional, everyone is talking about what they have been through and how much they want the Russian forces to leave. But I still cannot say that anyone is panicking or the town is paralyzed. The worst part -- sleepless nights and the sheer fear of reoccurring bombardments -- seems to be over.
 
 
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About This Blog
RFE/RL's Georgian Service correspondent Tea Absaridze was blogging from the key Black Sea port of Poti until Russian troops finally withdrew from their checkpoints outside that western Georgian city on September 13. Her posts reflect a city on edge, with foreign forces digging in even as the leadership in Moscow vowed it was on the way out. Photos were provided by Absaridze and Lasha Zarginava. Write to Tea at webteam@rferl.org
 
 
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Crisis In Georgia
For RFE/RL's full coverage of the conflict that began in Georgia's breakway region of South Ossetia, click here.

 

 
 
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