1992 Photo Contest, Spot News, 1st prize
Photographer

Anatoly Morkovkin

ITAR-TASS

01 January, 1991

The Soviet Republic of Georgia proclaimed its independence on April 9, but President Zviad Gamsakhurdia began to show dictatorial tendencies. In December, when the rest of the former USSR was busy forming the new Commonwealth of Independent States, Georgia's capital erupted into violence. The city has a Christmas red with blood, and after the protracted siege Gamsakhurdia's opponents forced him to flee his country early in 1992. The fighting cost dozens of Georgians their lives.

About the photographer

Anatoly Morkovkin

This image is collected in