Tbilisi's ethnic Russians face uncertain future

By Ralph Boulton - Analysis

TBILISI (Reuters) - They are 21st century barbarians, thugs, thieves, fascist hordes bent on killing, sacking Georgian cities, burning treasured forests, humiliating and crushing a proud people.

"I see," said Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, "evil in their eyes."

Such is the picture of Russians painted by Georgia's leaders over the last two weeks of war and uneasy ceasefire. Russia, of course, has been far from courteous about Georgia.

You have to wonder, though, what effect this deluge of vitriol might have on historically good relations between 'ordinary' Georgians and Russians living in Tbilisi.

In the southern Caucasus, a volatile patchwork of ethnic groups, the Georgian capital has been a relatively harmonious place through two centuries of imperial Russian rule, Soviet mastery and then the turbulent years since independence.

Georgians, Russians, Azeris, Jews, Armenians all called Tbilisi home, their common tongue Russian.

How soon can fury vented on a state level turn the minds of neighbors?

There is an almost unreal calm these summer evenings on the tree-lined Rustaveli Avenue, elegantly restored from the blackened ruins after a civil war that ended in 1992.

Old people, young couples sit on lines of benches facing each other, reading books, chatting, flirting.

The promenaders of Rustaveli may not have been touched directly by the bitterness of war, like fellow citizens around the town of Gori, but most are angry about 'Putin's invasion'.

"Yes, I was shocked when we heard bombs, even here in Tbilisi. I have so many Russian friends, even Russian relatives. We've talked about it," says David, a young man in black tee-shirt and jeans.

"They feel as bad about it as we do. It's awkward for them. Should I hold it against them? Of course not."

Lali Moroshkina, a Russian and head of an NGO that works on ethnic minority problems, says about 50 Russians came today to her office to sign a protest letter over the invasion.

"Ethnic Russians haven't had any major problems so far, maybe some minor problems and only in the town of Gori."

David and Lali seem to reflect majority opinion here, but there are others. Sveta, a Georgian with a Russian first name, seems more distraught about how things could develop than seized of any real resentment of her Russian neighbors; but she wonders.