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The sorrows of this field are yours

The Liakhvi River flows through the Zone of Fear, crossing into the territory of occupied South Ossetia, past empty, abandoned fields.

The sorrows of this field are yours

Andrej VerzolaPorAndrej Verzola
11 de março de 2025
em Portfólio

Selecionado no Prêmio Portfólio FotoDoc 2025

After Russia invaded Ukraine I came to Georgia: one more country that had experienced an invasion by Russia in 2008. Given the circumstances of the past three years, Russian imperialism and aggression toward its neighbors have become deeply personal issues for me. While living in Georgia, I have met many people affected by the Russian invasion. This experience has driven me to explore the topic of the currently occupied Georgian territories and the realities of life of those living right next to them.

In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia and occupied two of its regions. One of these regions is known as South Ossetia. The line of contact between Georgia and South Ossetia stretches around four hundred kilometers, with over ten thousand people living in its immediate vicinity on the Georgian- controlled side. The population of this so-called “Zone of Fear” mostly consists of farmers living in small, semi-abandoned villages. After the war, many residents of these lands left, but some chose to stay as they felt deeply connected to their lands. Those living near the line of occupation suffer from systematic expansion carried out by the Russian military authorities. Quite often the territories taken away by Russian border troops are the most precious for the locals: their pastures, churches, and cemeteries. The goal of the occupants is to make the locals feel disconnected from their roots and intimidated. Since 2008, there have been around four thousand registered cases of illegal detention and imprisonment of Georgian citizens by Russian and South Ossetian authorities.

I spent nearly a year and a half traveling through regions adjacent to the line of occupation and talking to people for whom detentions by Russian border troops have become part of daily life. My project tells the stories of some of the individuals who were captured by Russian forces near the line of occupation and were subsequently held in detention centers and prisons in Tskhinvali. Some of my protagonists were arrested only once, others more than three times. For each of my subjects, life has been divided into “before” and “after” the arrest: a trip to a once-familiar pasture or a visit to the grave of a loved one could lead to a new detention and prison term. Some have lost their health due to brutal beatings, and a few have paid with their lives for crossing the line of occupation.

The Russian occupiers drew the “border” in such a way that R.’s brother’s grave ended up on the Russian side, while the cemetery gate remained on the Georgian side. R. was detained and brutally beaten five times for visiting his brother’s grave.
“He died in my arms when he was 15. If only he were alive now, and everything was the way it used to be.”
– R.
After his fifth arrest, R. was released in October 2024.
“When they detained me, I didn’t resist—I only shouted: ‘This is not your land, you have no right!'” – R.
“When I was two years old, my sister, mother, father, and I went to our apple orchard near the occupation line. We saw Russian border guards on a hill just above us. They started firing signal flares in our direction to drive us out of the orchard. I have never been there since.”
– O.
The inscription, written by one of the protagonists, reads: “Of course we would like to be with Europe, but Russia simply won’t let us go.”
“When my father was arrested, I was still a child and feared that they might never release him. Now I am seventeen, and I understand that our land can be taken from us at any moment—but I am no longer afraid.”
– O.
“When the Russian troops entered our village in 2008, they rounded us all up in the church. Then they separated the men from the women. I was certain they were taking us to be executed, and I thought: ‘At least my mother won’t have to see me die.'”
– N.
“In 2008, Russian forces set up checkpoints and completely cut off the village from Georgia. It was terrifying. During the three months they were stationed here, most of the villagers abandoned their homes and left.” – N.
Before the war, farmers of this region raised livestock, grew grapes, and cultivated apples. Now, there is no food for the cattle—many pastures are on occupied land, and the vineyards and orchards have been abandoned.
“During my arrest, they treated me so badly that I wished I had jumped out of the truck on the way to the detention center and taken a bullet to the back. I would have preferred death to such humiliation.”
–A.
While one of my protagonists was imprisoned, the occupiers destroyed many homes in the region and burned down his house. The only memory that remained were the keys he had in his pocket at the time of his arrest.
The inscription, written by one of the protagonists on the photograph of his bedroom, reads: “I hope that our people will finally find well-being and everything will be fine for our children, Georgia, and the younger generation.”
“A few years after the war ended, my husband went to our vineyard. As he was returning home, two Russian border guards chased after him while a third cut his way off. He tried resisting the detention and got kicked with the butt of the rifle. He couldn’t break free from them, and they took him to a military base.”
– M.
Russian border troops continue their attempts to drive the residents of the Zone of Fear away from their homes. But many of the people I’ve met while working on the project are so deeply attached to their land and its culture that they do not even consider leaving as an option.
This war, started by Russia in 2008, is still ongoing today. Unseen and almost forgotten, yet bringing sorrows and devastation daily.

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Andrej Verzola

Andrej Verzola

I was born and raised in Saint Petersburg, Russia. After graduating high school, I moved to Poland to study cinematography at the Łódź Film School. Following my studies, I worked in commercial and music video productions before transitioning to text-based media.

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