Battle of Poti (1993)

The Battle of Poti was a series of engagements around Poti, Georgia during the Georgian Civil War, between rebels supporting the ousted Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the so-called 'Zviadists', and Russian forces supporting the Georgian Head of State Eduard Shevardnadze. A group of Russian Marines of the Black Sea Fleet landed in the Georgian port city in late October 1993 to protect an important railway between Poti and the Georgian capital Tbilisi. In November clashes between the Russians and the Zviadists erupted, with the Russian Major General Boris Djukov, claiming no Russian casualties. The fighting ended when the Georgian Armed Forces broke through the rebels' defenses and entered their capital Zugdidi on the 6th of November.