A Russian garrison was installed in Sukhumi in the 1840s, as its fortress was part of the Black Sea defence line, and Jews from many regions of Georgia, particularly from Kulashi, settled in the town.

[5] The Jewish community of Sukhumi was officially recognised by Soviet authorities in 1945, at the very end of World War II.

Sukhumi synagogue was razed in October, 1951 (according to the official version, its territory was needed for urban development).

As the Soviet Union was disintegrating in the late 1980s, ethnic tensions began to grow in Abkhazia and the number of Jewish emigrants increased greatly.

All of the Jews who wished to flee the fledgling republic were evacuated by the Jewish Agency and settled in Israel.