Bordering Georgia's breakaway regions, villagers fear Russia's next steps

Local farmer Nika Tsiklauri, 33, shows Reuters a piece of white cloth, in the village of Bershueti, Georgia, May 12, 2019. Tsiklauri said that the white pieces of cloth are used to indicate the "border" between the breakaway region of South Ossetia and the rest of Georgia. Tsiklauri said he was resting near where some white cloth was tied, when a Russian militant put a gun to his head, saying that he crossed over their border. Tsiklauri was later let go. "I went close to the occupied borderline, to the trees where the white cloths are, untied them and threw them on the floor, as a protest. I do it often," Tsiklauri said. REUTERS/Daro Sulakauri SEARCH "SULAKAURI BORDER" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

For displaced villagers living near the border of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, the war in Ukraine has brought back terrifying memories of Russian bombardments.

"I know what it feels like hiding in the basement while your village is being bombed. I know that horrible feeling of fear," said Mari Otinashvili, whose family fled the shelling of her village when she was a 13-year-old in 2008.