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Shukruti. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Chiatura

In Pictures | Living on the brink of collapse in Shukruti

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•3 min read

In 2021, Vera Kupatadze was one of eight people who spent a month on hunger strike, her lips sewn shut, to demand compensation from Georgian Manganese for damage to her property. Today, Vera is one of dozens of Shukrutians who are demanding action and clarity from the company, which operates the mines in Chiatura, on the fate of their houses and the entire village. [Read more: Mine entrance blocked near Shukruti in renewed protest against Georgian Manganese] During the 2021 protests,

A protester opens a bottle of champagne at the festival site. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media

Alt Info

In pictures | Broken statues and stolen yoga mats: Georgia’s far right stop Pride Festival

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•1 min read

On 8 July, several thousand far-right protesters stormed the venue of a queer pride festival set to be held on the outskirts of Tbilisi, forcing the event’s organisers to be evacuated and the event to be cancelled. People began to gather for the protest near the Vazha Pshavela metro station around noon, four hours before the festival was set to open. It was organised by the violent far-right group, Alt Info. Protesters blocked Vazha Pshavela Avenue, watched over by large numbers of police.

Chiatura

In pictures | Portrait of a mass hunger strike

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•6 min read

Warning: this article contains images that some may find disturbing. In early February, Georgian Manganese, the mining company that controls the manganese mines in the central Georgian town of Chiatura, announced that the mines were being all but suspended due to a global slump in the ferroalloy market. After spending three months on 60% pay, workers began to be called back to work in late May where they were introduced to ‘optimised’ work plans — they would have to extract 40% more ore or

Democracy

In pictures | Georgians defeat the foreign agent law

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•2 min read

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Tbilisi for a second evening of protests on 8 March against Georgia’s draft foreign agent law. Protesters attempted to place the parliament under siege, blocking the entrances in order to prevent the ruling Georgian Dream party from voting through the bill. Police responded with force, deploying pepper spray, tear gas, and water cannons to push protesters back.

Police attempt to disperse protesters using water cannons. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media

Georgia’s Foreign Agent Law

In pictures | Tear gas and water cannons: Georgia’s foreign agent protests

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•4 min read

On Tuesday morning, the Georgian Parliament announced it would hold the first hearing of the foreign agent draft law on Thursday, but announced shortly after that morning’s protesters had dispersed that the hearing of the law would take place the same day instead. The foreign agent law was widely condemned domestically and internationally as a Russian-style law that threatens Georgia’s democracy and Euro-Atlantic prospects. Crowds flocked to parliament almost immediately after the anno

Samantha Boghosyan laughs while her friend and fellow dancer Anita Kagramanyan adjusts her costume during the filming of a dance video in the hills above Goris. Tom Videlo/OC Media.

Armenia

In Pictures | Life in limbo at the Hotel Goris

by Tom Videlo

•6 min read

As the clock hits nine on a fresh winter morning, fish swim lazily in a small aquarium in the reception of the Hotel Goris as a group of men stroll past, heading outside for their first cigarette of the day. There isn’t much to do other than smoke and drink for those stranded here, victims of the blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijani ‘eco-activists’. Azerbaijan maintains the protests blocking the road are not a blockade. The corridor is Nagorno-Karabakh’s sole connection to Armenia,

Tbilisi-Borjomi elektrichka at the Khashuri railway station. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Georgia

In Pictures | Georgia’s shrinking train lines

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•5 min read

Once a month and like clockwork, 29-year-old Guram used to take the Kutaisi-Batumi train to visit his sister and her family in Ureki, 60 kilometres north of Batumi along the black sea coast. His journey always started in his hometown of Rioni, south of Kutaisi, which doubles as a bustling train station connecting routes throughout Georgia. He travels on the ‘elektrichka’, a class of suburban train in much of the post-Soviet world that make frequent stops connecting villages and towns as wel