Raul Lolua: ‘The Day That Marked the Beginning of a New Life’
Raul Lolua, Secretary of Abkhazia’s Security Council and recipient of the Order of Leon.
SUKHUM / AQW'A — Raul Lolua, Secretary of Abkhazia’s Security Council and a recipient of the Order of Leon, has shared his memories of the 1992–1993 Patriotic War of the People of Abkhazia. Taking up arms as a teenager, he endured fierce battles, the pain of loss and a long struggle to return home. Here, he recalls the Sukhum he encountered on 27 September 1993, how war forced boys barely out of school to grow up too soon, and why he considers defending one’s homeland an unquestionable duty.
Raul Lolua:
“When war broke out in August 1992, I was just a young lad. I was born and raised in Sukhum and knew every corner of it. But after the fighting at the Red Bridge, we had to leave our hometown to regroup and organise our resistance.
“For an entire year, we lived with one thought: to return. We fought bitter battles and lost people dear to us. There were many seventeen-year-olds fighting in the war, boys barely out of school who had exchanged their textbooks for weapons. Regardless of their age, they stood alongside their elders, never once losing faith that their country would be liberated.
“When Sukhum was liberated on 27 September 1993, I had only just turned seventeen. For the first few hours, I could hardly believe it was true. We fought our way into the city amid fierce resistance. The smell of burning was everywhere, dust hung in the air, severed wires lay on the ground and broken glass crunched beneath our feet. The blackened shells of burnt-out homes and the twisted wreckage of vehicles lined the streets. I walked through my hometown and could barely recognise it.
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“That night, tracer rounds lit up the sky in celebration. When I finally reached my home, I felt a quiet certainty: we had done our part. We had won.
“Looking back now, I realise that the war forced us to grow up too soon. It taught me something simple: when an enemy comes to your land, you have no choice. You must stand up and defend your home. That is every man’s duty. We boys who took up arms stood firm alongside our heroic people.
“What has stayed with me above all is pride in a homeland freed from invaders, and faith in the future. For me, 27 September 1993 will always be the day a new life began.”