Unconfirmed reports of Georgian man abducted in Donetsk

Georgian authorities cannot confirm a Georgian man has been abducted in Donetsk, Ukraine despite international media claiming masked men kidnapped a Georgian citizen.

Maya Karlash of the Ukrainian media organization "Liberty" released information stating Georgian man Vasily Budik had been kidnapped by masked men in the city of Gorlovka.

The Embassy of Georgia in Ukraine said it could not prove this fact and were investigating the claim.

The Ambassador of Georgia in Ukraine Mikheil Ukleba said he had contacted with Consulate in Donetsk and nobody could confirm this information.

The Ukraine media allege masked men tied up Georgian man Vasily Budik’s eyes, pushed him into a car and took him to an unknown location, Karlash wrote on Facebook.

The Foreign Minister of Georgia advised against travelling to eastern regions of Ukraine citing it was unsafe. The Ministry asked Georgian citizens to refrain from travelling to Donetsk, Kharkov and Lugansks Oblasts as well as to the Ukrainian cities of Sevastopol and Sloviansk.

If Georgian citizens are already in the above named locations, the Foreign Ministry have advised travellers to leave these areas as soon as possible.