
In 1993, separatist forces took Sukhumi, the capital of the former Soviet territory of Abkhazia. As Georgian authorities lost control of the region, more than 200,000 people were forced to flee. Many had no choice but to cross the Caucasus Mountains...
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Guram Modisharya
Hello.
Stefania Gozzer
Welcome to Witness History with me, Stefania Gozzer. If this is one of your favorite podcasts already, feel free to skip ahead a little bit but if you are listening for the very first time, welcome. I want to tell you a bit more about us. We look at a moment in history told by the people who were there. We use incredible archive and hear amazing stories. We with new 9 minute episodes dropping every weekday. So if that sounds like your thing hit subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts and turn on your notifications so you never miss an episode. But for now, let's get to the story. It's the 27th of September 1993 and Sukhumi, the capital of a former Soviet territory called Abkhazia is is about to fall into the hands of separatist forces. Two years earlier, the Soviet Union had collapsed, leaving Georgia an independent country and Abkhazia a region within Georgia. In the modern Abkhazia, the Abkhaz people only accounted for about 20% of the population. They lived alongside communities such as Armenians and Greeks and of course, ethnic Georgians, who made up almost half of the population. But now Abka's rebels had taken up arms to seek independence.
Narrator
A ferocious civil war is now raging in the west of Georgia. Troops loyal to the government of Eduard Shevardnata are trying to crush remaining resistance in the breakaway region of Abkhazia, but it's proving tougher than they'd expected. The rebels have got reinforcements and they've mounted a counterattack. They declared independence last month, but Mr. Shevard Madsen says this is still Georgian territory and he's prepared to fight for every inch of it.
Stefania Gozzer
Gura Modisharya is a Georgian poet. Born and raised in Abkhazia.
Guram Modisharya
Sukhumi was a very multicultural place when I was growing up. Everyone got along pretty well. There were a lot of Georgian Afghaz families. Because of this, social relations were fairly peaceful. No one could have predicted the severity of the world. Up broke out on the 14th of August 1992. I was on leave from work and went swimming when a military helicopter flew overhead. It started firing missiles. It turned out to be the Georgian military entering Abkhazia. I swam to shore and drove home. They fired rockets towards the city. Even though there were many tourists there. The brutality of the war became apparent straight away.
Stefania Gozzer
Guram sent his wife and daughter to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, but he remained at home until the day Abka's forces took Sukhumi.
Narrator
After the fall of Sukhumi, a mass exodus of refugees has begun. Families fleeing by boat or Escaping along mountain paths because the roads have been cut off.
Stefania Gozzer
Guram first thought of leaving Abkhazia by driving along the coast. But the rest of Georgia had also fallen into civil war.
Guram Modisharya
The roads were closed. We had no choice but to head in an unknown direction and ended up in the mountains. In the car, it was just me, my mother, my brother and our friend, with almost nothing else. Just a few photo albums I really wanted to save and some documents.
Stefania Gozzer
It was a long journey inland from the Black Sea coast to the small village of Sakeni, deep in a valley. Valley in the Caucasus Mountains. Beyond that point, the only way out of Abkhazia was a narrow mountain trail too steep and dangerous for regular cars. A handful of helicopters carried the most vulnerable across the mountains into Georgia.
Guram Modisharya
Sagani was where I left my old car. I'd injured my knee in the city bombings and was walking with a steel. My mother said she would be able to walk, but when we approached the mountain, we were warned of its dangers. I realized I had to leave her with some relatives in the hope that they might be able to drive her later.
Stefania Gozzer
Guram tricked his brother into leaving without him. He told him that he was going to wait for a helicopter because he feared that if they set off together and his injured knee gave out, his brother would refuse to leave him behind and might stay with him to die in the mountains. After his brother left, Guran began to cross the pass with a friend.
Guram Modisharya
It was raining and our feet were slipping, but we had to keep going. The further up we went, the worse the blizzard became. But there was no going back now. I had a jumper and a warm coat that I'd thrown into my car just in case, but I only had summer sandals and light trousers. We quickly went from warmth to sub zero temperatures.
Stefania Gozzer
What he witnessed on that journey still haunts him.
Guram Modisharya
I remember a woman who was carrying a bag with the remains of her child who had died in the Sohomi bombings. Then I saw a husband and wife carrying a big suitcase each. The woman collapsed suddenly and I went to help, but she was on. Someone checked her pulse and announced that she had just died. The husband immediately dropped his suitcase and fell beside her. When I tried to help him up, it was clear he had also died. I had never heard or read about people dropping like flies in this way. The main thing killing people was the stress of the situation.
Stefania Gozzer
Not only was the pain pass bitterly cold. It reached altitudes of more than 2,800 meters above sea level. At that height, the air is thinner, making movement slower and breathing harder at night.
Guram Modisharya
In the mountain pass, we would have hallucinations from the lack of oxygen. My friend was convinced he had arrived in some Viking territory. I sat down in a heap of snow and started falling asleep. This unbreakable slumber was dragging me down and I gave in. My friend caught up and started shouting at me to wake up. You will freeze. You will die. He was slapping my face and shaking me. Only after he found some perfume in his bag and sprayed it on my face, I opened my eyes to the familiar scent. I asked what perfume it was. Red Moscow. He showed me. Why did you even bring this? I asked. I felt a lump of snow next to me, which revealed a frozen person underneath. Next to that another. They had also rested and fallen asleep in that particularly difficult spot.
Stefania Gozzer
After two days in the mountains, Guram finally reached the village of Djuberi in the Georgian region of Svaneti.
Guram Modisharya
I wouldn't have made it a third day. The locals had said it would be an eight kilometer walk to Juberi, but they must have been trying to make us feel better, because it was no less than 50.
Stefania Gozzer
Kuram and his friend were among the tens of thousands who fled through the Caucasus Mountains after the fall of Suhumi in Abkhaz hands. Hundreds are thought to have died along the way.
Guram Modisharya
What kept me going was the thought that if I survived, I would describe every detail to show people what word truly is.
Stefania Gozzer
And so he did in his book the Path of the Persecuted. To this day, most of the world considers Abkhazia part of Georgia. In practice, however, it operates as a self governing territory backed by Russia.
Guram Modisharya
When the war started, I was cut off from my source of inspiration, my city, my people. I started writing again at 40, but this time I wrote short stories and novels instead of poetry.
Stefania Gozzer
That was Georgian writer Guramodisharia speaking to me. Stefania Gotzer for Witness History from the BBC World Service. If you've enjoyed this, please let your friends know about Witness History. And if you'd like to hear more about what happened during the conflict in Abkhazia, why not listen to our episode called the Georgian Abkhaz War. Make sure you hit. Subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Thank you for listening. Bye.
Guram Modisharya
A moment in time captured by what they heard. I heard some people making phone calls. Okay, which Runway would you like at Teterborough? We're going to begin the Hudson. What they saw I put my head down. I saw the movie of my life started going through my head. What they smelt I still remember the smell of the fresh fish and I
Stefania Gozzer
completely lost my appetite.
Guram Modisharya
Moments captured which last for a lifetime.
Narrator
Scientists have made the atomic bomb that
Stefania Gozzer
sort of flash set on fire the
Guram Modisharya
birds and they all fell down without their feathers. On the way was clear for Hitler to realize all his demonic plans. Stories from people with first hand accounts of events that have shaped our world. At the end, Kissinger called me into his office and he said, you did a good job. I left the office with tears in my eyes.
Stefania Gozzer
She called me and told me I'm doing Studio 54. She had already become a star in Paris.
Guram Modisharya
She came back a superstar. Listen now. Search for witness history wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
Podcast: Witness History
Host: Stefania Gozzer
Published: June 15, 2026
Guest: Guram Modisharya, Georgian poet and eyewitness
This episode of Witness History explores the harrowing events surrounding the fall of Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, on September 27, 1993, through the personal narrative of Guram Modisharya—a Georgian poet born and raised in Abkhazia. Through his vivid memories and experiences, listeners are taken inside the mass exodus of ethnic Georgians fleeing war, the perilous mountain escape, and the lifelong scars left by this little-known conflict.
“Sukhumi was a very multicultural place when I was growing up. Everyone got along pretty well. No one could have predicted the severity of the war.”
— Guram Modisharya (02:10)
"I remember a woman who was carrying a bag with the remains of her child who had died in the Sukhumi bombings. ... I had never heard or read about people dropping like flies in this way. The main thing killing people was the stress of the situation."
— Guram Modisharya (05:36)
“You will freeze. You will die. ... Only after he found some perfume in his bag and sprayed it on my face, I opened my eyes to the familiar scent ... I felt a lump of snow next to me, which revealed a frozen person underneath.”
— Guram Modisharya (06:34)
“What kept me going was the thought that if I survived, I would describe every detail to show people what war truly is.”
— Guram Modisharya (08:14)
Through Guram Modisharya’s first-hand account, this episode delivers a vivid, personal perspective on a rarely discussed moment in post-Soviet history. It underscores the pain of displacement, the randomness of survival, and the lasting impact of war on individual lives and communities. Modisharya’s determination to bear witness—to write and remember—ensures that the trauma experienced by thousands is not forgotten.
For further exploration: The episode recommends listening to “The Georgian Abkhaz War” for a broader historical context.