The ongoing War in Abkhazia created an atmosphere of lawlessness in the region, resulting in dozens of deaths of Greek civilians.

Greek ties with the Black Sea region date back to antiquity, as exemplified by the myths of Prometheus and the Argonauts’ quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece.

During the second Greek colonization period (the 7th to the 6th centuries BC), they founded 60 colonies on the Black Sea coast,[1] Hellenizing some native populations.

In 1949, Soviet authorities forcibly transferred citizens of the Abkhaz ASSR they deemed disloyal to the Asian parts of the country.

On 14 August 1992, Georgian troops invaded Abkhazia against a draft treaty prepared by the Abkhazian parliament, which they saw a paving the way for secession.

Refugees reported that artillery bombardments had damaged housing, while groups of bandits and rogue Georgian and Abkhazian soldiers operated with impunity.

[10] During the Cold War, Greek foreign policy was focused on the Cyprus problem and its relations with its Balkan neighbors, while the Black Sea region was largely ignored.

They visited Adjara and spoke with the head of the Greek community in Sochi, handing over documents to refugees who had fled to the two regions.

On 31 July, the task force reached Sukhumi and established its headquarters in an inn guarded by a Russian paratrooper battalion.

Power cuts and a night curfew complicated the operation and forced the Greek officials to work under candle light.

[21][22] On 12 August, 11 Greek military policemen led by Captain Vasilis Ntertilis [el] (who had command of the operation) arrived in Sukhumi from Georgia and finalized the evacuation plan which was approved by Georgian authorities.

[20] The commander of the Abkhazian Navy, Ali Aliyev, ordered his troops to allow the Greek ship safe passage.

[26] After the fall of Sukhumi, Abkhazian president Vladislav Ardzinba called upon the refugees to return and "help rebuild the country"; he also appointed two ethnic Greeks into his cabinet of ministers.

[27] At the time, Operation Golden Fleece was the largest and most complex humanitarian mission carried out by the Greek state beyond its borders.