Satellites

The Soviet collapse spawned 15 new countries that are now established members of the international community, but also a few far less known – and internationally unrecognized republics.

“Satellites” is a photographic journey by Jonas Bendiksen through the scattered enclaves, unrecognized mini-states, and other isolated communities that straddle the former satellite states of the now defunct USSR.

Transdniester – the breakaway region of Moldova (under Russian de-facto control)

Transdniesterian deputy minister of defense looking lovingly at an Alazan missile in front of a scene from 1992 breakaway war with Moldova. The Alazan missile has been in the media’s focus as of late, with a Washington Post article accusing Transdniester of lacing the small missiles with nuclear dirty bomb warheads, something the government strongly denies. 2004

Crows circle a statue of Lenin in front of the Supreme Soviet building. Transdniester is in many ways one of the last bastions of communist nostalgia in the former USSR.

People on a bus commuting to a factory in the cold winter morning.

Patrons of “Red Heat”, a local bar, drinking under banners with the Soviet hammer & sickle. In Transdniester, nostalgia for the USSR runs very high.

Steel mill. Despite the nationalist rethoric of the breakaway war with Moldova in 1992, critics of Transdniester see their quest for independence as a power grab by factory chiefs and economic elite of the region. Nearly all of Moldova’s heavy industry was located in the Transdniester region, and Transdniestrian independence is catastrophic for Moldova.

Streetscene during a snowstorm

The population of Transdniester is mainly ethnic Russians, and the main religion is Russian Orthodox Christianity. Here a priest gives his blessings before a christening in the icy waters of January.

Russian stripper in a nightclub.

Steel mill. Despite the nationalist rethoric of the breakaway war with Moldova in 1992, critics of Transdniester see their quest for independence as a power grab by factory chiefs and economic elite of the region. Nearly all of Moldova’s heavy industry was located in the Transdniester region, and Transdniestrian independence is catastrophic for Moldova.

People headed to work in the morning.

Outside the underground bar Prokhlada, a sign warns of the clubs conditions: No hand grenades, guns, knives, syringes, bottles, gas canisters or fighting allowed

People attending a church-run soup kitchen. Most Transdniestrians are poor, and a large portion of the population are pensioneers longing for the better times of the USSR.

 

*In 2013, Moldova (together with Ukraine) seeked to strengthen economic and political relations with Europe. As a result, a Russian envoy was sent to Moldova’s capital Chisinau: “Energy supplies are important in the run-up to winter. I hope you won’t freeze”, suggesting Russia will cut off gas supplies to Moldova for its pro-Europe stance. (source)

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The Other Moldova – Investigating illegal arms trafficking and accusations of possession of weapons of mass destruction

The breakaway Republic of Transnistria looks set to be the cause of more tensions between Russia and Moldova.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Eastern Moldova broke away from the rest of the country and moved closer to Russia. The self styled Republic of Transnistria is recognized by no other nation. It relies on 1,200 stationed Russian troops for protection and its criminal gangs have moved into Moldova. Now Moldova is pushing for a Russia withdrawal from Transnistria. “Transnistria is a festering criminal sore which is infecting all its neighbors,” states expert Dr Galeotti.

 Documentary analyzes the corruption and Russian connections

 The danger Transnistria presents as weapon smuggling haven

 

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Abkhazia, South Ossetia – breakaway regions of Georgia (under Russian de-facto control)

Although Abkhazia is isolated, half-abandoned and still suffering war wounds due to its unrecognized status, both locals and Russian tourists are drawn to the warm waters of the Black Sea. This unrecognized country, on a lush stretch of Black Sea coast, won its independence from the former Soviet republic of Georgia after a fierce war in 1993.

With its lush Black Sea location, Abkhazia is trying to attract Russian tourists. Here, at a road stop on the tour bus route, an entrepreneur, who charges tourists 10 rubles to photograph his bear, catches his breath between busloads.

Babushka “Tanya,” an elderly ethnic Russian woman, heads back to her bombed out apartment building after walking her dog. Despite the damages, three apartments remain occupied in the building

Babushka Tanya’s run down apartment. Her building was on the front line between Abkhazian and Georgian forces during the 1993 war.

People sailing out on the Black Sea.

Russian tourist girl in a Soviet-era resort “Pensionat Energetik,” on the coast of Gagra.

Damaged apartment building on the outskirts of Sukhum. Some of the apartments are still occupied.

A man with Tuberculosis. Abkhazia has high rates of TB. “Doctors Without Borders” supply the DOTS treatment in this hospital.

Pentecostals listen to preacher in a cellar of former synagogue. Tshinvali, South Ossetia, 2009

Burnt school in one of the Georgian enclaves. South Ossetia, 2009

Municipal orphanage, Tshinvali, South Ossetia

Andrei Nekrasov’s documentary “Russian Lessons” focused on the two breakaway regions of Georgia – Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The following are 2 extracts

Abkhazia

South Ossetia

BBC documentary

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Nagorno-Karabakh – breakaway region of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh

How the conflict began (Ferghana valley and its involvement mentioned at 20:30)

Nagorno Karabakh conflict thoroughly explained, including the Russian involvement

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Uzbekistan – Ferghana Valley

The most complicated border negotiations in the Central Asia region involve the Fergana Valley, where multiple enclaves struggle to exist. Three countries share in the tangled border region; Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan all have historic and economic claims to the regions transport routes and natural resources.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, border negotiations left substantial Uzbek populations stranded outside of Uzbekistan. In south-western Kyrgyzstan, a conflict over land between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks exploded in 1990 into large-scale ethnic violence (reoccurring in 2010). By establishing political units on a mono-ethnic basis in a region where various peoples have historically lived side by side, the Soviet process of national delimitation sowed the seeds of today’s inter-ethnic tensions.

An Uzbek border patrol surveys one of the valley’s seven territorial enclaves. The myriad borders of the valley make it hard to control and ideal for smugglers.

The government crackdown on Islam is forcing religion underground, into secret schools and mosques such as this one.

A father who has three sons in jail for unsanctioned religious activity.

A woman who has lost most of the men in her family to religious persecution. She has also been accused of religious crimes.

Here in the center of the underground religious movement, nearly all men keep a close shave to avoid government suspicion.

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Kazakhstan – the toxic Russian rocket fuel issue

Toxic Russian Rocket Fuel Target of Kazakh Anger 

A nationalist political party in Kazakhstan has called on the government to ban future launches of Russian Proton-M carrier rockets from the Baikonur Cosmodrome over concerns that they spew a particularly toxic form of rocket fuel into the Kazakh steppe.

Also at play are issues of sovereignty arising from the intergovernmental agreements governing Russia’s use of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which the NSDP views as an affront to “the concept of sovereignty of Kazakhstan!” READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

A band of scrap metal dealers scan while waiting for a rocket to crash.

The flaming wreck of the same rocket after it crashed during the night.

The fiery wreck of a rocket after it crashed during the night.

A Soyuz rocket fuel tank lies on the steppe.

Villagers collecting scrap from a crashed spacecraft, surrounded by thousands of white butterflies. Environmentalists fear for the region’s future due to the toxic rocket fuel.

Dead cows lying on a cliff. The local population claim whole herds of cattle and sheep regularly die as a result of rocket fuel poisoned soil.

Pitsunda-Myussera Biosphere Reserve, Black Sea

Pitsunda-Myussera Biosphere Reserve – located in Abkhazia (Georgia)

Myussera (Pitsunda in the background)

Medieval cathedral Bedia

Bedia cathedral is a 10th century medieval christian temple built by King Bagrat III (King of Abkhazia and Georgia) near Bedia village, Abkhazia.

Bedia’s location has a perfect view of the coast of the Black Sea and the peaks of the Main Caucasian Ridge

Near the cathedral lie the ruins of a XV century palace

Shakuran waterfall, Abkhazia

Shakuran waterfall – located in Gulripshi, Abkhazia.

 

Abkhazia ~ Paradise Lost

 

Much of the tourism industry consists of Russian soldiers and low-income retirees

 

If there is a place on earth that inspires more melancholy, reminiscence and regret than Abkhazia, I have yet to find it. A republic of sighs, home to 250.000 people who still mourn their dead as much as they plan their future.

This year marks the 23rd anniversary of Abkhazia’s first declaration of independence from Georgia. That initial gesture of July 23, 1992, was boycotted by the ethnic Georgians in government and ignored by the outside world. But soon enough, it began a cycle of attacks and reprisals, fueled by alcohol, old grudges, and the chaos of the Soviet collapse.

In the chaos that followed, up to 15.000. civilians were killed, most of them Georgians. The O.S.C.E. (Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe) recognized the massacre of Georgian civilians – the Sukhumi massacre becoming the most notorious. Abkhazia denies such events and avoids talks on this matter. Also, the presence of over 3.000 Russian peace-maintaining troops in the region makes it a sensitive issue for the international community.

Over 250.000 Georgians, Abkhazians and other ethnicities living in Abkhazia became refugees, reducing the population to half (the 1992 Census counted a population of over 500.000 ).

Georgia has blockaded all southern routes by sea and land, and so Abkhazia has to rely on the kindness of its neighbor and patron Russia, with whom it shares a land border.

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The Russian involvement in the conflict has supposedly been neutral all along, however in recent years Russia  started to claim territory from the state of Abkhazia.

A territorial dispute has recently worsened the relationship between Moscow and its committed ally in the South Caucasus, Georgia’s separatist republic of Abkhazia. Read more here Russia and Abkhazia dispute border delimitation (2011)

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“We had a poor understanding of what was going on that day, August 26, when Russia recognized us,” Khashig says. 

“It was an emotional wave. Only later did we figure out that we were not getting what we wanted. Earlier, even though nobody recognized us, we were truly independent. Now, after recognizing Abkhazia, Russia is swallowing us.”

Read more here Abkhazia And The Perils Of ‘Independence’

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During the Sochi Olympics, Russia expanded its borders into Abkhazia. A so-called “temporary border”, it is unsure if this measure will be reverted. NATO raps Russia for expanding border into Georgia

 

 Photography by Yuri Kozyrev – 2011

Abkhaz troops in Sukhumi

Abkhaz soldiers train at the Military Academy in Sukhumi. Abkhazia’s regular forces are believed to be small, with estimates of the standing army ranging from 1.000 to 5.000.

Abkhaz children on a playground in Ochamchira which used to be populated predominantly by ethnic Georgians

Abkhaz boys play in a hot spring in Ochamchira

Ramas Beraia, an ethnic Georgian, lost his leg after stepping on a land mine on the banks of the Inguri River when he was 17. The UNHCR sponsored his retraining, as a shoe repairman. A vast majority of the population has been expelled and most ethnic Georgians still remaining are not allowed to vote.

Ethnic Georgian children dance a Georgian dance at the Didtsifuri school, which is partially sponsored by the western Christian aid group WorldVision in the village of Dikhazaurga.

An Abkhaz man mows the lawn near an abandoned house where a Georgian family used to live

Domino competitions are a serious business on the promenade in central Sukhumi

Abkhaz boys play in a hot spring in Ochamchira

Ethnic Georgians on a wagon on the road to the town of Gali. In the past, their movements were heavily restricted. Now, some Georgians work as laborers in Sukhumi or Gagra, mainly in the construction industry.

Russian tourists are regular visitors to the sanatoriums along the Gagra seashore. During the Soviet years, tourism was Abkhazia’€™s prime source of income. Abkhazia’€™s palm-lined beaches, framed against glacial mountain peaks, were a frequent backdrop for the Soviet film industry.

Moss has grown over the white marble statues and round ponds in the tropical botanical garden along the Gagra seashore

The former parliament building in Sukhumi, Abkhazia’€™s capital, still bears the scars of the war.

Russian tourists pose in front of an abandoned 19th-century palace

Domino competitions are a serious business on the promenade in central Sukhumi

A poster of Abkhaz fighters killed during the war with Georgia in 1992 and 1993, with the caption ‘For peace and freedom of Abkhazia!’

With its lush Black Sea location, Abkhazia is trying to attract Russian tourists, who steadily increase in numbers each year. Here, at a road stop, on the tour bus route, an entrepreneur charges ten rubles to photograph people next to his bear, while his employees wait for the next busload.

Kids playing outside an abandoned apartment building.

Although Abkhazia is isolated, half-abandoned and still suffering war wounds due to its unrecognized status, both locals and Russian tourists are drawn to the warm waters of the Black Sea.

Damaged apartment building on the outskirts of Sukhum. Some of the apartments are still occupied.

Tanya’s run down apartment.

A man with Tuberculosis. “Doctors Without Borders” supply the DOTS treatment in this hospital.

Tanya, an elderly ethnic Russian woman, heads back to her bombed out apartment building after walking her dog. Despite the damages, three apartments remain occupied in the building.

A Russian tourist girl in a Soviet-era resort “Pensionat Energetik,” on the coast of Gagra.

With its lush Black Sea location, Abkhazia is trying to attract Russian tourists. Here, at a road stop on the tour bus route, an entrepreneur, who charges tourists 10 rubles to photograph his bear, catches his breath between busloads.

Boys playing on a pier.

Checking in at the Soviet-era resort hotel “Pensionat Energetik,” on the Black Sea cost. Back in Soviet Days, Abkhazia rivalled Sochi and the Crimean Peninsula for summer vacations

A Russian tourist, dressed in a “USSR” track suit, photographs his friend dressed up in more traditional garments at a pit-stop for tour buses.

The damaged “People’s Assembly Building” stands like a war memorial in central Sukhum.

 

And finally, a reminder of Abkhazia’s beauties…

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