Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Zuwan perestroika ya ba Abkhaz damar fitowa don bayyana rashin gamsuwarsu game da matsayin su a cikin Georgia. A shekara ta 1988 an aika da wata wasiƙa, da manyan 'yan Abkhazia suka sa hannu, zuwa ga Mikhail Gorbachev da shugabannin Soviet. Ya zayyana korafe-korafen da Abkhaz ke ji kuma ya yi jayayya cewa duk da abubuwan da aka ba da izini na 1978, an yi watsi da ikon cin gashin kai a yankin. Ya kammala ta hanyar neman a cire Abkhazia daga SSR na Georgia, kuma a mayar da shi a matsayin cikakken jamhuriyar Soviet, mai kama da SSR Abkhazia. An bi wannan a watan Maris na shekara ta 1989 da Yarjejeniyar Lykhny, wadda takarda ce da mutane 37,000 suka sa hannu. Wannan ya haifar da zanga-zangar a Georgia, wanda ya kai ga wani babban zanga-zangar adawa da Soviet da kuma goyon bayan 'yancin Georgia a Tbilisi a ranar 9 ga Afrilu, 1989, wanda aka tarwatsa shi da karfi.
Sojojin Ma'aikatar Harkokin Cikin Gida ta Tarayyar Soviet, wanda ya yi sanadiyar mutuwar mutane ashirin, galibi mata matasa, da kuma raunin daruruwan masu zanga-zangar. Bala'in 9 ga Afrilu ya kawar da ragowar abin dogaro daga gwamnatin Soviet a Georgia kuma ya tura 'yan Georgia da yawa zuwa adawa da Tarayyar Soviet, kuma ya tsananta rikicin kabilanci tsakanin' yan Georgia da sauran kungiyoyi, musamman Abkhaz da Ossetians. Karin tarzoma a Sukhumi da ke adawa da kafa reshen Jami'ar Jihar Tbilisi ya tsananta kishin kasa na Abkhaz.