Russian helicopter violates Georgian airspace during incident prevention meeting in Ergneti

A Russian helicopter has violated Georgian airspace during a meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in the village of Ergneti earlier today, between representatives of the central Georgian government and the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region. 

Members of the central Georgian government protested the incident at the meeting and also condemned the process of the illegal borderisation of Georgian territories, efforts for which have been redoubled during the pandemic. 

They also condemned the illegal detention of Georgian citizens for so-called illegally crossing the border and demanded their immediate release. 

Deputy Head of the Analytical Department of Georgia’s State Security Service Irakli Antadze said that the meeting ended ‘positively’ as Georgian citizen Khvicha Mgebrishvili, who has been illegally detained for 85 days, will be released tomorrow. 

Antadze said that the health condition of another Georgian citizen Zaza Gakheladze, who was shot and detained by the occupation forces in July 2020, is not at risk and that the central Georgian government is doing its utmost for the release of the man. 

He said that the central Georgian government has demanded the Tskhinvali de facto government to stop persistent persecution of a local civic activist Tamar Mearakishvili, who lives in the Russian-occupied Akhalgori district.