Two missing Georgian border guards located in Russia

Two border guards who disappeared while on duty are expected to be returned to Georgia by Russia on June 29, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia says.

The border guards from Lagodekhi municipality of Kakheti region headed to the Georgia-Russia border near Dagestan to open a temporary summer checkpoint on June 27.

The Lagodekhi unit of the border police later began a search for them as communication with them was cut off for some time. 

Finally, the MIA border police department found out that the missing guards had been detained and taken onto the territory of the Russian Federation.

One of the guards detained by Russian border police, Koba Macharashvili, had been working for Georgian border police for 13 years, his family members say.

"There has not been any such case in the past. He left for work on Monday as usual and we do have heard from him since", Macharashvili’s mother Nargiza Makhatadze told journalists.

The detained border guards are from the villages of Shroma and Patara Gori, Lagodekhi municipality.

The MIA is going to start an investigation into the incident as soon as the border guards are returned to Georgia.