'Dangerous to go anywhere in Georgia'

Dubai: Hiding from Russian airstrikes in Georgia's capital Tbilisi in a nearby forest, Zurab Vanishvili has become an eyewitness to the fierce fighting currently raging in the country.

Speaking to Gulf News over his mobile phone on Sunday from a shack some 20 kilometres outside the city, he and his family - his wife, a boy, a girl and a two-month-old baby - are fearfully awaiting the next bomb attacks from Russian fighter aircraft.

"The Russians are presently bombing eleven cities in Georgia", Vanishvili said.

The lawyer, who runs a solicitor's office in Tbilisi as well as in Deira, Dubai, bemoaned the loss of his house in Gori, a town 80km from Tbilisi, which was the target of heavy Russian bombing.

"We continue to stay in the forest for security reasons," Vanishvili said. "As of now, it is dangerous to go anywhere."

Vanishvili said he urgently needed to obtain travel documents for his youngest child to allow the entire family to leave the country.

He said that he thought Tbilisi's civilian airport may still be operational - at least until Sunday morning when he saw three passenger jets taking off.

'No more planes'

"Since then I have seen no more planes," he said. The nearby military airport has been destroyed by bombs and is now defunct, Vanishvili added.

Many people are sharing his fate and are staying in the forest as well, he said.

They are wondering if the Russians will continue their attacks or if diplomatic pressure from the West will calm the situation down at least temporarily and give them the opportunity to collect their belongings and flee abroad or hide with their relatives in more secure places.

"Maybe we will go to Turkey," Vanishvili said. Neighbouring countries like Armenia or Azerbaijan "are not safe to go", he says. He said he had heard of a flight corridor being used by passenger aircraft to evacuate residents from Tbilisi.

Getting away by ship seems impossible. The Russian war vessels have blocked access to the Black Sea port of Poti while air raids destroyed much of the infrastructure there.

In the forest, he is relying solely on a car battery to operate his small TV set and watch breaking news aired by Georgian state television.

According to the news, the Georgian army has destroyed 40 Russian tanks and 11 fighter jets as of Sunday. The TV also showed groups of wounded Russian soldiers.

Russia has deployed some 10,000 troops in Georgia, according to latest Georgian TV news, and is in control of the Kodori valley in Abkhazia.