In Georgia, people worry about ending up like Ukraine as government leans towards Russia
Levan is sitting in his very old car smiling at us through the snow, his eyes twinkling, amused by our discomfort. Not many people come to visit this corner of Georgia, and today the snow is billowing around us.
It is biting cold and there is a large stray dog staring at us with a slight air of menace. Welcome to Brotsleti.
We are just a few kilometres from one of the most significant borders in continental Europe. Along the road is a heavily fortified checkpoint that protects the entrance to South Ossetia, the Georgian region that was annexed by Russia 16 years ago.
Russian tanks rolled through this small village; missiles landed; troops marched in.
Over the course of five days of one-sided conflict, the Russians took control, established borders and claimed that South Ossetia had become a newly independent republic.
Hardly anyone else actually believes that, not least because there are still thousands of Russian troops stationed in South Ossetia, quietly intimidating the Georgians on the other side of the frontier.
Levan has lived here for all his 67 years, and he has the weather-beaten face to go along with a tough life. He calls himself a peasant and tells me his car, a Volga, is 63 years old.
It was left to him by his father and Levan uses it every day. It should be in a museum; instead, here it is, pounding away through the snow and potholes, still in one magnolia piece.
Levan, 67, a Georgian who describes hearing gunshots near the border with a region annexed by Russia
“There used to be 25 villages beyond here,” he says, waving in the direction of the border. “Now they’re gone. The money from those 25 villages used to circulate here.”
He looks around at the meagre cluster of shops around us and shrugs. “You always hear gunshots. They hold military exercises in what used to be Georgian villages. There’s a firing range and they shoot there.
“There has not been an incident where they fired from there to here, but you still have a feeling of fear.”
We drive up to the border and see the crossing point. It is a hefty collection of fortified buildings and camouflage, but no sooner have we approached than we are approached by a guard and told to turn around. A police car then starts following us around. Nerves are fraught in this area.
A Georgian flag flying in the town of Gori
So much has changed in the years since Russia invaded, but now Georgia finds itself back in a state of flux.
For a long time, fearful of more Russian aggression, the country was pushed along by a wave of support for joining the EU and NATO. Polling suggests that most Georgians still want to pursue that.
But now the ruling party has gone cold on the idea.
Georgian Dream was created and then bankrolled by a multi-billionaire called Bidzina Ivanishvili who made his money in Russia and is, by a spectacularly wide margin, the richest man in Georgia. His party has been in charge for the past 12 years and has decided that closer ties with the West are no longer a good idea.
A market stall in Tbilisi, Georgia
Instead, Georgian Dream first introduced a “foreign agents” law that looks remarkably similar to oppressive legislation introduced in Russia. The party then won a general election that was widely criticised as rigged by international observers, European countries and Georgia’s president. It has now postponed all negotiations over joining the EU.
“It’s clear that the current Georgian leadership, the rhetoric that they are using, the choices that they make, is leaning towards Russia,” says Olesya Vartanyan, an expert on security and conflicts in the region.
“It became more obvious with the start of the Ukraine war when Georgia took the decision not to join some of the sanctions that the West imposed on Russia.
“Even more, Georgia did everything possible to distance itself from the West and, in that way, it took the side of Russia. I think that the interests of Russia and Georgian Dream do coincide.”
Protests have become a regular sight outside the Georgian parliament.
Anger, especially among more liberal voters in Tbilisi, has boiled over. We saw many anti-Russian slogans daubed on many walls and spoke to plenty of people who thought that the new government is taking orders from Moscow. Opposition parties have all boycotted the new parliament.
Protests in Georgia
But there are others who think it is a fool’s errand to provoke Russia by flirting with closer ties to the West.
Their logic was inflamed by posters created by Georgian Dream during the election, showing pictures of devastation in Ukraine alongside the suggestion that it could be Georgia next.
“We move towards Europe, and Russia threatens us with bombing; we move towards Russia, and Europe threatens us with ‘we won’t feed you, we won’t help you’,” says Marina Bachia, who runs a market stall in the capital.
“We are just a tiny nation,” Marina adds. “Whoever can help us, they should. But nobody cares.”
A new aid system has opened its first distribution centres in Gaza, according to a US-backed organisation dealing with supplies.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations in the territory on Monday, following the resignation of its director, Jake Wood, over its independence.
Gaza’s 2.3m population has been pushed towards famine by Israel’s almost three-month blockade.
Boxes of aid to be distributed across Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
The GHF said lorryloads of food – it did not say how many – had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun.
“More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it said in a statement.
The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the United Nations and other aid groups.
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People line up for food in Gaza
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF.
They claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians.
They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs, and violates humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.
In the meantime, scores of Palestinians in Gaza, like Islam Abu Taima, have resorted to searching through rubbish to find food.
Palestinians are having to search through rubbish to find food
She found a small pile of cooked rice, scraps of bread, and a box with a few pieces of cheese inside it – which she said she will serve to her five children.
“We’re dying of hunger,” she told the Associated Press news agency.
“If we don’t eat, we’ll die.”
Islam Abu Taeima finds a piece of bread in a pile of rubbish in Gaza City. Pic: AP.
It is unclear how many of the GHF’s aid trucks will enter Gaza.
It claims it will reach one million Palestinians by the end of the week.
There are questions, however, over who is funding it and how it will work.
Trucks transporting aid for Palestinians in Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
It has been set up as part of an Israeli plan – rather than a UN distribution effort.
Israel, which suggested a similar plan earlier this year, has said it will not be involved in distributing the aid but supported the plan and would provide security.
It says aid deliveries into Gaza are taken by Hamas instead of going to civilians.
Aid groups, however, say there is no evidence of this happening on a systemic basis.
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Israel began to allow a limited amount of food into Gaza last week – after a blockade that prevented food, medicine, fuel and other goods from entering the Palestinian enclave.
A letter has been signed by hundreds of judges and lawyers calling on the UK government to impose trade sanctions on Israel.
It also calls for Israeli ministers to be sanctioned and the suspension of Israel from the UN over “serious breaches of international law”.
“Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide,” the letter says.
The Israeli government has repeatedly dismissed allegations of genocide in Gaza.
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At least 31 dead after school attack
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, following the deadly attacks by the militant group on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
The health ministry’s figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters in Gaza.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are being urged to use their visit to Canada to seek an apology for the abuse of British children.
Campaigners have called on them to pursue an apology for the “dire circumstances” suffered by so-called “Home Children” over decades.
More than 100,000 were shipped from orphan homes in the UK to Canada between 1869 and 1948 with many used as cheap labour, typically as farm workers and domestic servants. Many were subject to mistreatment and abuse.
Canada has resisted calls to follow the UK and Australia in apologising for its involvement in child migrant schemes.
King Charles and Mark Carney on Monday. Pic: PA
Campaigners for the Home Children say the royal visit presents a “great opportunity” for a change of heart.
“I would ask that King Charles uses his trip to request an apology,” John Jefkins told Sky News.
John’s father Bert was one of 115,000 British Home Children transported to Canada, arriving in 1914 with his brother Reggie.
“It’s really important for the Home Children themselves and for their descendants,” John said.
“It’s something we deserve and it’s really important for the healing process, as well as building awareness of the experience of the Home Children.
“They were treated very, very badly by the Canadian government at the time. A lot of them were abused, they were treated horribly. They were second-class citizens, lepers in a way.”
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The forgotten legacy of British children sent to Canada
John Jefkins
John added: “I think the King’s visit provides a great opportunity to reinforce our campaign and to pursue an apology because we’re part of the Commonwealth and King Charles is a new Head of the Commonwealth meeting a new Canadian prime minister. It’s a chance, for both, to look at the situation with a fresh eye.
“There’s much about this visit that looks on our sovereignty and who we are as Canadians, rightly so.
“I think it’s also right that in contemplating the country we built, we focus on the people who built it, many in the most trying of circumstances.”
The issue was addressed by the then Prince of Wales during a tour of Canada in May 2022. He said at the time: “We must find new ways to come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of the past.”
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King Charles and Queen Camilla are on a two-day visit to Canada.
On Tuesday, the King will deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of Canada’s parliament.
Camilla was made Patron of Barnardo’s in 2016. The organisation sent tens of thousands of Home Children to Canada. She took on the role, having served as president since 2007.
Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.
A spokesperson for the Canadian government said: “The government of Canada is committed to keeping the memory of the British Home Children alive.
“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada deeply regrets this unjust and discriminatory policy, which was in place from 1869 to 1948. Such an approach would have no place in modern Canada, and we must learn from past mistakes.”
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