388 Chapter 3
However, public opinion in Russia gravitated heavily toward Abkhazia. Georgian
suspicions of Russian intentions were hard to ignore. The Russians still had Soviet
military bases in Georgia that it wanted to maintain, and could maintain should it
coerce Georgia into the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) under the aus-
pices of being a neutral party and guarantor.
Small scale incidents accumulated through autumn of 1992—mostly attacks on
Russian helicopters purportedly carried out by Georgian forces and incidents in the
Georgian-Abkhazian conflict that affected Russian nationals in the area. However,
by 1993, Russian skirmishes with the Tbilisi government intensified. On February
20 and 21, 1993, the Russian air force bombed then Georgian-held Sukhumi (the
capital of the Abkhazi region), as response to an accusation of a Georgian attack on a
Russian military laboratory of an unspecified time and place. With Russian support,
the Abkhazi side regained Sukhumi at the end of September 1993, and the Russians
offered recognition of the autonomous Abkhazian republic.
With a depleted army, President Eduard Shevardnadze agreed to move Georgia
into the CIS on October 22, 1993, and immediately asked for Russian help with the
separatist rebels. Russia turned its forces on the rebels and helped Georgian forces
take back several cities in late October.
Coding changes: End Date changed from October 26, 1993. Outcome changed from
Victory for side B.
MID#4096
Dispute Number: 4096
Date(s): August 25, 1997 to December 23, 1997
Participants: 365 Russia/372 Georgia
Outcome (and Settlement): Compromise (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: Georgians had been smuggling alcohol into Russia for some time, but in
1997 Russia detained several trucks full of spirits at the Georgian border. On August
25, Russian troops moved the Larsi checkpoint in Qazbegi District 500 meters into
disputed territory to combat this alcohol smuggling. On November 27, Georgia’s
parliament reported that the Russian checkpoint had first moved an additional 200
meters and later extended the checkpoint by 1.3 kilometers inside disputed territory.
Georgia also accused Russians of firing automatic weapons into Georgia from behind
the checkpoint on November 24 and 28. On December 4, Georgian president Eduard
Shevardnadze met privately with Russian ambassador Feliks Stanevskiy to discuss the
dispute. The same day Georgian youth moved toward the disputed territory to protest;
two days later they attempted to cross the Larsi checkpoint but were not allowed. A
Russian general accused Georgia of stationing troops inside Russian territory and
called on Georgia to prevent its people from crossing into Russia to demonstrate the
Larsi checkpoint. In addition Moscow sent a special unit of soldiers to reinforce its
position in the face of protests. Shevardnadze sent a letter of protest to Yeltsin on
December 5. Yeltsin sent a reply with Deputy Prime Minister Serov on the 8th. Geor-
gia and Russia signed a protocol the next day in Tblisi by which border posts would