4 Georgians kidnapped near occupied Tskinvali region
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Four Georgian citizen have been captured by Russian troops near Georgia’s occupied breakaway region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), officials say.
The State Security Service said the detainees are residents of Khashuri district in central Georgia.
The men were detained for allegedly illegally crossing the "border” – the administrative boundary line (ABL) erected by the occupying forces separating breakaway Tskhinvali region from the rest of Georgia.
The State Security Service said talks for freeing the captured locals are ongoing through the European Union Monitoring Mission hotline.
The kidnapping is the latest in a series of frequent kidnappings of residents living in Georgian villages along the ABL separating the Russian-occupied regions of Tskhinvali and Abkhazia from the rest of Georgia. Over 130 people were detained by guards patrolling the occupation line in 2016.
It is not always obvious where the occupation line has been demarcated as Russian occupation forces keep changing the so-called borders. This process is informally referred to as a "creeping occupation”.
An Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting is now underway in Ergneti village several kilometers away from the Russian occupied Georgian region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia),
Three people were kidnapped yesterday in Georgia’s eastern municipality of Gori located near Russian occupied Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia).
An Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting was held today in Ergneti village several kilometers away from the Russian occupied Georgian region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), where security conditions along the occupation line were on the top of agenda.
Russian border guards patrolling the Administrative Boundary Line between the Russian-occupied region of Tskhinvali and the rest of Georgia illegally have detained a Georgian man.
Georgian citizens kidnapped by troops occupying the country’s breakaway Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region have been released earlier today after paying fees to their captors.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a commander who was deployed in Georgia’s Tskhinvali region during the 2008 conflict as Russia’s new "ambassador” to the breakaway region.
The Russian occupation forces deployed in central Georgia have moved the occupation line further into Georgian territory. This step saw about 10 more hectares of Georgian soil in the heart of the country now become occupied by Russia.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has issued a statement expressing its "deep concern” over the illegal installation of a so-called border sign across the occupation line in the breakaway Tskhinvali region, in the area of Bershueti village, Gori district.
Russian occupying forces have detained two Georgian citizens in the village of Bershueti in Gori Municipality, near the country’s eastern occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.