of the Jews were forced to leave the city along with the Georgian refugees. During the hostilities in 1992, buildings in the Jewish quarter, including the local synagogue, were seriously damaged. In August 2008, as a result of shelling, the quarter was significantly damaged. Andrei Illarionov, former economic adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, who visited the ruins of the Jewish quarter in October 2008, said that this part of the city impressed him as a long abandoned place. According to Illarionov's observations, bushes and trees up to several meters high grow right in the middle of the ruins.