For three days before I arrived, the city of Marganets was closed to all traffic going in or out. At least six buses of militia were guarding the city. I knew nothing about this until I had been in Marganets four hours.
This is the story that I pieced together from two reliable sources. Two men, a Ukrainian and an Armenian were at a bar drinking. After a time and a few drinks, their conversation became a disagreement. The disagreement became violent. The violence spread to the onlookers. They began to take sides. Ukrainians were damaging cars known to belong to Armenians.
Finally, the police arrived. By this time, the fighting had escalated into a riot. In the process of taking control of the situation, one policeman was killed with a knife. A second officer was hospitalized. By the time that I arrived, the only evidence that something had happened was the presence of the militia, walking the streets in teams of four and five, patrolling the city.
