Georgian villager kidnapped from his garden by Russian guards

The tense situation along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between breakaway Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) and the rest of Georgia has intensified after a Georgian man was kidnapped by Russian servicemen from Tbilisi-controlled territory today.

The kidnapping came after Russia extended its occupation two kilometres deeper into Georgian territory last weekend.

Vazha Totladze, 53, from Knolevi village in Kareli district in central Georgia was working in his garden with his son when he was approached by an armed man and taken to the occupied side.

Totladze’s son said he was away for a moment when he saw from a distance his father being captured by a man who wore a uniform. The child ran home immediately. 

Knolevi village residents said Totladze’s garden was hundreds of metres away from the ABL but this did not stop the occupational forces from detaining him.

The villagers also said they were afraid to go out into their own gardens to collect crops as most of their agricultural lands bordered the ABL - the area permanently controlled by Russian soldiers.

Totladze's detention was confirmed by Georgia’s Interior Ministry, who informed the European Union’s Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia about the incident.

"We will demand our citizen to be released at the emergency meeting in Ergneti under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM),” Shalva Enukidze, head of the Analytical Department of Georgia’s Interior Ministry said.

The family of the detained man has not been contacted by anyone from the breakaway Tskhinvali side but they expected they would soon be asked for a ransom.

The situation at the area became tense on July 10 when Russian forces in occupied Tskhinvali installed banners marking the so-called "state border” on the territory adjacent to Tsitelubani village in Gori municipality and Orchosani village in occupied Akhalgori district, in close vicinity to the Tbilisi-Gori central highway. These actions saw Russia’s occupational forces advance 2km into Georgian territory.

Since then a number of incidents has taken place along the ABL, which can be read here.