Opposition soldier outside of Parliament in Tbilisi after Georgian President Gamsakhurdia fled the former Soviet republic

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Opposition soldier outside of the burning Georgian Parliament building in central Tbilisi, Georgia in 1992. Opposition to Zviad Gamsakhurdia (1939-1993), the first democratically elected President on the newly independent former Soviet republic of Georgia, began in December of 1991 and by early January of 1992 had left more than 100 dead. Gamsakhurdia along with a small group of supporters had barricaded themselves in the basement of the Parliament building. On the morning of January 6th 1992 they escaped Tbilisi to Azerbaijan where they were denied asylum. After a brief stay in Armenia, Gamsakhurdia and his group were finally given asylum in the breakaway republic of Chechnya. In December of 1993 Gamsakurdia’s body was found in Western Georgia, it was reported that he died from a single gunshot to the head. Photo by Chuck Nacke

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Size: 5400px × 3510px
Location: Georgian Parliament Building, Tbilisi, Georgia, Former Soviet Union
Photo credit: © Chuck Nacke / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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