A COUP IN GEORGIA

27 DECEMBER 1991

A group of opposition soldiers sit on top of a tank in Tbilisi, Georgia. Russian-supported military forces in opposition to the regime of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia began their coup in the Georgian capital on 21 December, besieged the parliament building in Tbilisi for 16 days, and forced Gamsakhurdia into exile in Chechnya on 6 January. He later returned and attempted to retake power, which escalated the coup into a civil war in Georgia.