Frank Yanez, an American citizen illegally detained by Russian occupation forces in central Georgia last month, has been released and is in the territory controlled by the Georgian Government, the State Security Service of Georgia announced on Wednesday.
The state body said both the hotline mechanism and other tools at the disposal of the Government had been “actively used” in releasing Yanez from illegal imprisonment in central Georgia’s occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
The US national’s detention was reported by media outlets in the occupied region to have taken place on July 27 near the Akhalgori district village of Balaani.
His release was raised to the co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions - a platform launched in 2008, in the aftermath of the Russia-Georgia war that sparked the ongoing occupation of two Georgian regions - and with international partners, the Georgian state body said.
It also placed “full responsibility” for “destructive actions carried out in the occupied regions of Georgia and along the occupation line” on the occupation authorities.