Eurasianet

With an art school and international animation festival, a Georgian Orthodox bishop is trying to revive a village on the de facto border with South Ossetia.

While it would be wrong to start pointing fingers and formulating conspiracy theories, clearly the risks are many and real.

Many in the territory blame the rising numbers of coronavirus cases on the authorities’ decision to open up to Russian tourists.

The territory's public health officials have warned against opening up to tourism, and the arrival of tourists has coincided with a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.

The government’s lack of capacity helps explain the about-face.

As coronavirus cripples the territory’s tourism season and Russia has stopped sending aid, Abkhazia faces a 10 percent GDP decline this year.

The isolation of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh have served them well as the disease spreads all around them.