In July 2023, the Democracy Research Institute studied the situation in the villages located along the occupation line. In order to study the problems of the population living near the occupation line, we visited the villages of Ganmukhuri, Khurcha, Orsantia, Rukhi, Tkaia, Rike, Anaklia, Muzhava community, Pakhulani community, Potskho-Etseri IDP settlement and crossing points of Tsalenjikha and Zugdidi municipalities.

The visit showed us that compared to the past years, the local authorities carry out infrastructural works in some of the settlements near the so-called dividing line and certain progress can be observed in this direction. Currently, the economic hardship and the concerns relating to the depopulation of the villages are the main problems of the locals. The difficult socio-economic situation and security problems along the occupation line have practically emptied the villages near the dividing line.

According to the observations of the Democracy Research Institute, compared to previous years, security and control measures by the Georgian checkpoints have been drastically reduced along the so-called dividing line; It is a fact that compared to 2021, the preparedness of the local checkpoints and/or the preventive measures are now drastically weakened several hundred meters away from the Russian checkpoints; Unlike the practice of previous years, only one person is on duty at each checkpoint. One gets the impression that the checkpoints are formal and actually cancelled, like they no longer expect a threat from the occupying forces; In the conditions of the ongoing war in Ukraine, such relaxation is surprising. 

Problems of the population living near the occupation line (Ganmukhuri, Khurcha, Orsantia, Anaklia, Rukhi, Tkaia, Rike, Potskho-Etseri IDP settlement, Muzhava and Pakhulani communities)