De-facto Tskhinvali says Georgian who illegally crossed so-called border was going to catch bats in Russian-controlled territory
Georgia’s State security Service told RFE/RL the European Union Monitoring mission hotline had been informed about the incident since the arrest and efforts were made to release the man from custody. Photo: shutterstock.
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The so-called security committee of Russian-occupied Tskhinvali reports a Georgian citizen who ‘illegally crossed the so-called border’ on July 3 was going to catch bats in Russian-controlled territory.
Kvicha Mgebrishvili told the security committee that he was interested in bats that live in the villages of Artsevi and Ghromi in Gori municipality”, reports the security committee of Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region.
In an official statement the committee also says that Mgebrishvili was going to look for bats in populated areas and sell each of them for $5,000.
It is important to explain that bats living in Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region are not used to build nests in populated areas. At the same time, the Lugar Laboratory (The Centre for Public Health) has been showing its interest towards South Ossetian bats since 2012”, reads the statement of the security committee.
The so-called security committee of occupied Tskhinvali also mentioned that the staff of the Lugar Laboratory caught bats in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia in 2012, 2014 and 2018.
Responding the issue, head of the Georgian National Centre for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze said that the information is 'a lie and staged provocation'.
The necessary samples for studies are always collected by relevant staff from the Lugar Laboratory. This information is a lie, a provocation staged by our neighbors. A lot of studies are being done in the Lugar Laboratory. The staff sometimes studies bats in order to find whether they have rabies or other diseases, including other types of coronaviruses. Bats are one of the species that spread lots of diseases... There are special groups who study these specimens", Gamkrelidze said.
Kvicha Mgebrishvili has been under quarantine since his detention in Tskhinvali, which is due to end on July 17.
Georgia’s State security Service told RFE/RL the European Union Monitoring mission hotline had been informed about the incident since the arrest and efforts were made to release the man from custody.