In South Ossetia, meanwhile, the authorities have remained completely silent on the issue. Most residents in both territories hold Russian citizenship, raising the prospect they could be drafted.
Land ownership is a sensitive issue in Abkhazia. The deal also sparked controversy in Georgia proper, where critics accused the government of closing its eyes to Russian expansion.
Because official statistics are nonsense, we look to personnel reshuffles to understand where the government recognizes it is underperforming. Our weekly briefing.
Georgians and Russians have not had such close contact, and on such a scale, since the breakup of Soviet Union. Now they are figuring each other out again.