The Fall of Sukhumi or the Siege of Sukhumi occurred from 16 to 27 September 1993, involving the Abkhaz separatists, along with their Russian and North Caucasian backers, and Georgia, being the last engagement of the War in Abkhazia.
The battle began on 16 September, when the separatists, aided by the local Russian military base, launched their offensive on Sukhumi, the capital city of the region, amidst the escalation of the Georgian Civil War. Georgians, having withdrawn most of their military equipment from the city following the ceasefire agreement, which was supposed to put an end to the military conflict, were caught by surprise, outgunned and outnumbered, which allowed the separatists to effectively encircle and besiege the city, cutting its vital communication lines with the rest of Georgia. Although the warring sides in the Georgian Civil War made a deal to unify their forces to break the siege, they were still unable to coordinate effectively and on time, and thus on 27 September, the city fell to the separatists. The disorganized Georgian forces were unable to mount a proper defence and chaotically retreated, which resulted in the separatists capturing most of the region by 30 September, thus ending the 13-month long war.
Following the battle, the Abkhazian troops, having established their control over Sukhumi, committed numerous massacres and other atrocities against the local population, which forced most of the Georgian residents to flee the city, although as the most were unable to escape through the blockaded coastal road, they had to flee through the Caucasus Mountains through the blizzard, which led to starvation, freezing and death of many. Thus, tens of thousands were violently displaced from the city and even more from the entire region.
Background
July ceasefire
Sukhumi was a Georgian-majority (42%) city and the capital of Georgia's Abkhazian Autonomous Republic, which was an epicenter of the 12-month long war between the Georgian government forces and Abkhaz separatists, who were based in the city of Gudauta as they received the support of the local Russian military base there. During the July offensive, the Georgian-held Sukhumi became a center of fighting as the separatists attempted to capture the city from the direction of Gudauta. On 27 July 1993, Georgia and Abkhaz separatists signed a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement in Sochi to end the 12-month long conflict. It entailed the gradual demilitarisation of the conflict zone. The agreement banned the use of aircraft, artillery and naval vessels in the conflict zone as well as prohibiting the introduction of new troops or ammunition into Abkhazia. The separatist military formations were obliged to disarm and dissolve. Georgia withdrew most of its troops and heavy artillery from the region as per agreement, leaving only a small contingent. Russia was a guarantor of ceasefire and on 29 July Russian troops arrived to Abkhazia to separate sides, being stationed in and around Georgian-held Sukhumi. Many displaced civilians returned to Sukhumi, and all schools were re-opened on September 1. The normal life resumed in the city. The civilians were asked to return by the Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze.
Georgian Civil War
The failure of Eduard Shevardnadze to regulate the conflict in Abkhazia strengthened the popularity of the former President Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Several battalions in Sukhumi and Gali declared that they were withdrawing their allegiance from Shevardnadze and joining Gamsakhurdia's forces after the "shameful" ceasefire agreement signed by Shevardnadze, which provided for withdrawal of Georgian armed forces from Abkhazia. This led to the intensification of the Georgian Civil War, which had been fought since December 1991 military coup between the forces of the ousted Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia and the post-coup government of Eduard Shevardnadze. On 25 August 1993, the Gamsakhurdia's forces used a transmitter to cut into a television broadcast to urge an uprising against Eduard Shevardnadze. On 28 August, the troops of Loti Kobalia, the commander of Gamsakhurdia's forces during his exile to Chechnya, advanced from their base in Zugdidi and captured three towns in Mingrelia (western Georgia): Abasha, Khobi and Senaki. Shevardnadze responded by massing his troops to stop Gamsakhurdia's forces from further advance. They braced near seaport Poti. Shevardnadze issued an appeal to Gamsakhurdia's forces, telling them to surrend or face "grave consequences". On 7 September, Kobalia's troops advanced into Abkhazia and captured the town of Gali, which was controlled by the Shevardnadze's forces. On 9 September, negotiations began between Gamsakhurdia loyalists and Shevardnadze's government in Batumi. Shevardnadze's government, represented by a delegation led by Green Party leader Zurab Zhvania, offered to open talks on a new constitution for the republic, to be followed by a referendum and new elections, while Gamsakhurdia loyalists argued for a recognition of Zviad Gamsakhurdia as a legitimate ruler of Georgia alongside Shevardnadze's existing administration. The talks ultimately broke down on 11 September and Shevardnadze announced his plan to introduce a state of emergency in Georgia.
On 13 September, Shevardnadze proposed a state of emergency to the Parliament of Georgia and its resignation for three months. Shevardnadze issued his program, proposing banning rallies, curtailing all political activity, and censoring mass media. In response, MP Jaba Ioseliani, the leader of the Mkhedrioni paramilitary and one of Shevardnadze's allies, charged him with attempting to establish "a dictatorship by Communist methods".
On 14 September, Eduard Shevardnadze abruptly resigned, which was followed by a rally in his support in Tbilisi. The Parliament then decided to approve his request on state of emergency, but to put off a decision on its own dissolution, which Shevardnadze had cited as a precondition for him to get back to his position. Shevardnadze was personally endorsed by the patriarch of Georgian Orthodox Church, Illia II.
Shortly after midnight, taking advantage of disarray in Tbilisi, Loti Kobalia's troops attacked the government troops. On 15 September, the fighting concentrated on the railroad-highway intersection near the village of Japana. Shevardnadze flew to the Western Georgia. He told his opponents not to continue attack, saying: "Do you really think we have no force?". He told the Georgian parliament that his troops were ready to counterattack. The Georgian parliament ultimately decided to accept Shevardnadze's proposal to dissolve itself, and from 20 September the Emergency Council of 5 was set to take control of the affairs in the country.
Battle
Beginning of the offensive
On 16 September, the Abkhaz separatists broke the 27 July agreement and launched an offensive on Sukhumi. They launched a landing of an amphibious force in the Ochamchira district, to the south of Sukhumi, cutting down Georgian communication lines (the only highway and railway line connecting the city with the rest of Georgia) and besieging the city. The assault on Sukhumi followed from the north, the direction of "Gumista front". Separatists had a considerable advantage in firepower because Georgia had removed its heavy artillery from Abkhazia in August. The separatist troops were equipped with heavy artillery, mobile rocket launchers, heat-seeking missiles, heavy machine-guns, grenade launchers and anti-tank weapons, while Georgians were mostly armed with assault rifles.
On 17 September, Eduard Shevardnadze issued an appeal to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, saying that he was trying "to defend the city with naked hands". At least five civilians were reportedly killed in the fighting as Abkhazian tanks entered Sukhumi. Shevardnadze arrived to the city and went on the television saying: "I appeal to all men with guns to go to defend Sukhumi". Reports indicated that Gamsakhurdia loyalists joined the government forces to fight separatists. The United Nations Security Council issued a statement, calling separatists to fulfill their commitment to the cease-fire and resume the UN-endorsed peace process. US President Bill Clinton sent letters to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze to express his "strong support for Shevardnadze's efforts bring peace to Georgia". The letter also noted American support for Georgian territorial integrity and condemnation of the military offensive.
On the same day a confidential meeting was held between Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze and Russian Minister of Defence Pavel Grachev in Adler. Grachev proposed to station 2 Russian divisions in Sukhumi to secure peace, although the Georgian side refused. The Georgian Minister of Defence Gia Karkarashvili and the head of Informational-Intelligence Departament Irakli Batiashvili went categorically against such arrangement, and Shevardnadze agreed with them that the introduction of Russian divisions to Sukhumi would have meant "occupation of the city by Russia".
Ceasefire talks
On 19 September, late at night, Itar-Tass reported that a ceasefire agreement was reached in Sochi between Abkhazian representatives, Russia and Georgia. It called for warring sides to pull out from Sukhumi within 24 hours, lift blockade of supplies and continue a mutually agreed withdrawal. However, later Itar-Tass reported that no agreement was reached and negotiations would continue next day. Earlier that day fierce fighting was reported in the city. Abkhazian separatists fired artillery shells into Sukhumi. Shevardnadze appealed for international help and Russia promised to cut trade, electricity and arms traffic flowing from Russia to Abkhazia. Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said on 19 September that Russia would refuse to grant Abkhazia special trade terms and financial credits. He also said that Russian costume officers and troops would monitor efforts to prevent weapons to be transferred from southern Russia into Abkhazia.
On 20 September, a heavy fighting continued in Sukhumi. Russian Defence Minister Pavel Grachev returned to Moscow from Abkhazia and said that the introduction of a peacekeeping force would be impossible because of heavy fighting. Grachev said that Shevardnadze agreed on sending Russian peacekeeping force to Abkhazia, despite earlier describing it as an "occupation". An attempt to renegotiate a ceasefire broke down. A campaign began in Georgia to donate jewelry and money for the gun-buying campaign. The state of emergency came into effect. Before that, a demonstration was held in Georgia, appealing to Russia to intervene and uphold Russian-brokered ceasefire. Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev said that both parties were to blame and urged Georgia to withdraw from Abkhazia as per ceasefire plan. Separatists called on Georgia to surrender Sukhumi, saying that further resistance was "useless". Abkhazian spokeswoman said they had captured Sukhumi's northern and western suburbs. Shevardnadze had called Yeltsin to intervene, but he did not take a call, according to Shevardnadze’s adviser Levan Mikeladze. In a bloody house-to-house battle, Georgian troops beat back separatists. Georgia's Abkhazian governor Zhiuli Shartava said that the city was shelled from land and sea and sustained heavy damage. Early on 20 September, Shevardnadze made a deal with Gamsakhurdia loyalists to come to aid the defense of Sukhumi, although they reportedly were unable to break through.
Shevardnadze's appeal to the world read:
Now, when the actions of the anti-people forces have joined in a single stream even in Georgia, the "spontaneous" undermining of the Sochi agreement, as they say in Gudauta, and the actions of some of the highest-ranking Russian military officials and the policy of the Russian parliament gives us the right to assert that we are dealing with a well-coordinated and synchronized joint attack. I want the world to know: Abkhazia is the battlefield of the empire's bloody revenge, it is "the second August", the gunpowder barrel with which they want to blow up not only Shevardnadze's Georgia, but also Yeltsin's Russia. On September 3, 1992, we signed the summary document in Moscow. Before the ink had dried on the paper, this document was trampled with the boots of the mercenaries who stormed the unarmed Gagra. On May 14, 1993, we agreed on a ceasefire, but Sukhumi again became the object of attack, both from the land, sea and air, and in Ochamchire region, the landing forces armed from head to toe were dispatched, and the city [Sukhumi] was blockaded. Finally, we trusted the Russian peacekeeping mission, its role as a guarantor and mediator, on July 27, 1993, we made an agreement and received betrayal again... cannons still fired and the militants, who were supposed to be disarmed, attacked, and we only have to say that the guarantor of the ceasefire was either unwilling or unable to be a guarantor. A constructive negotiation in itself was disavowed by the statements of some subordinates of the Russian Defense Minister and the decision of the Russian Parliament. So far, the resolution of the UN Security Council has not brought any positive results. And yet, I appeal again to Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, the United Nations Security Council and Mr. Boutros Gali, the entire progressive democratic Russia, the entire world community: do not allow a terrible crime, stop the punishment of a small country, save my people from being burned at the stake of imperial reaction.