Georgian citizen kidnapped from village near Russian occupied Tskhinvali

A Georgian citizen has been kidnapped from the village Akhalubani, Gori district near the Administrative Boundary Line of Tskhinvali currently occupied by Russia.

Misha Petriashvili, 68, was herding cattle with two fellow villagers, according to the Gori municipality office. 

The EU monitoring mission is informed about the incident, the State Security Service said today.

Locals say at the moment of the incident the three people were on Georgian controlled territory and did not cross the so-called "border”.

Russian-occupied Tskhinvali calls the occupation line between Tskhinvali region and the rest of Georgia "the state border” and treats any cases of line crossing by locals as cases of "illegal border crossing” even though the line is not well differentiated in some areas. 

According to official data, 126 Georgian citizens were illegally detained by Russia-controlled border guards last year at the Georgia-breakaway Tskhinvali occupation line. In most cases detainees are released after paying a fine which amounts to about $30.