Amateur video from Poti
Despite the EU coordinated ceasefire, two Georgian towns - Gori (20km south of South Ossetia) and Poti (on the west coast) - remain under occupation by Russian forces. Few images are coming out of the areas, which journalists are not allowed to enter. Bloggers and NGO members however are doing their best to get around the information blockade by putting photos and videos online. See the images.
Issued on: Modified:
Despite the EU coordinated ceasefire, two Georgian towns - Gori (20km south of South Ossetia) and Poti (on the west coast) - remain under occupation by Russian forces. Few images are coming out of the areas, which journalists are not allowed to enter. Bloggers and NGO members however are doing their best to get around the information blockade by putting photos and videos online.
Communicating with these occupied towns is extremely difficult. There is no press access and communication by phone is almost impossible. We phoned the contributors to this post several times, without being able to get a clear connection.
"From my office window"
These photos were taken by the blogger Samira (pepsikolka) in Poti on Wednesday. She explains on her blog that the photos were taken from her office window.
A Georgian war ship in flames
This video was shot in Poti, a harbour town on the west coast, on Wednesday. The Russian forces have set a Georgian war ship on fire. The film was shot by Lasha Zargenava, a reporter for the NGO IPWR, which aims to defend and develop local media (financed by the state).