The shirtless soldiers inside the villa could be seen hurrying off a deck where they were apparently sunbathing after the gaggle of journalists began taking photographs.
Zugdidi lies near Georgia's border with Abkhazia, another pro-Russian breakaway province. Early in the conflict, Georgian officials in Tbilisi warned of an impending disaster as Russian tanks from Abkhazia massed at Zugdidi's edge.
But residents said there had been little or no damage to their town, though they were nervous about the increased presence of Russian troops.
"We're afraid because of the situation, because of the Russians," said Irakli Gulava, a student in his 20s strolling through a park in downtown Zugdidi. "But the Russian soldiers were afraid also of meeting with the Georgians. Eventually, they were asking the people to give them food, drinks and water."
Despite claims that Russia is destroying Georgia's civilian infrastructure, much of it remains intact in the country's west. Residents said shops were full. In the resort city of Batumi, residents could be seen swimming off the pebbly beaches of the Black Sea.
Residents said they worried that the effects would show up in coming years, as tourists shied away from what was becoming a thriving travel destination for Europeans.
"We have food and water," scoffed Mazia Jwania, a 50-year-old housewife walking with friends along a street in downtown Poti. "But in the last couple of years, life here was getting so much better. Now it's going to go backward."
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daragahi@latimes.com
