SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - The last time Russian tanks rolled into the Georgian capital of Tblisi, the people fought them with whatever they had – mostly Molotov cocktails and sticks. That was during the last days of the Soviet empire as Georgia was asserting its independence. The sticks and fire bombs were no match for the tanks.
Tamrika Khvtisiashvili hopes such a scene will not be repeated. But with the cease fire violated and Russian troops pushing even deeper into her native land, she worries for the many friends and family left behind. Some are in Gori – a town already overrun by the Russians. Others are in the disputed territory of South Ossetia. She has been able to keep in touch with some through phone calls and e-mails, but reliable information is hard to come by. Tamrika admits, “I feel helpless and a little guilty for not being there.”
And yet she knows there is little should could do to protect her loved ones or stop the advancing army that threatens them. “We definitely know people who have been killed – friends of family,” Tamrika explained. “We just don’t know about immediate relatives.”
Tamrika was raised in Georgia and came to Salt Lake in 1991. She and her husband now have a daughter and own the Blue Plate Diner on 21st East. “I would love to have a relationship with Georgia where I could go there at any time and introduce my daughter to her own heritage. But that’s obviously not possible right now.”
Still, Tamrika hopes her small homeland which has survived so many invaders over the centuries, can survive one more.
