As the Abkhazian troops intensified their efforts to take hold of the zone around Abkhazia's capital Sukhumi in early 1993, the fighting for Tkvarcheli also became fiercer and spilled over into the neighbouring villages when the besieged Abkhazian troops attempted several sorties. In February 1993, Abkhaz fighters attacked the Georgian village of Kvirauri, just outside Tkvarcheli, and took some 500 civilians hostage, threatening to kill them unless Georgian forces ended their offensive in the neighbouring Ochamchira District. A temporary ceasefire allowed the Russians to carry out the largest humanitarian operation in Tkvarcheli on June 16, 1993, evacuating several hundreds of civilians with 30 Kamaz trucks and 2 buses through the corridor offered by the Georgian army. The Georgians claimed, however, that a great deal of weaponry and ammunitions were simultaneously delivered to Tkvarcheli. A turning point in the battle occurred July 14, 1993, when a Russian landing group ousted Georgian units from the dominant heights around Tkvarcheli. Abkhazian forces failed to relieve the siege, but the town became much less vulnerable to Georgian fire from then on. On the morning of September 16, 1993, Abkhazian forces, supported by strong reinforcements from the North Caucasus, broke a Russian-brokered ceasefire and launched simultaneous attacks against Sukhumi, Ochamchira and Georgian forces blockading Tkvarcheli. The Georgians were caught by surprise and, after several days of intense fighting, Sukhumi fell to Abkhazian troops September 27, 1993. Now, the Georgian troops at Tkvarcheli themselves came under the threat of being besieged and retreated. By September 29, 1993, the siege had been lifted. References Tkvarcheli Tkvarcheli Abkhaz–Georgian conflict Tkvarcheli Tkvarcheli Tkvarcheli 1993 in Abkhazia 1992 in Abkhazia