US citizen illegally detained by occupation forces in central Georgia released
It also placed “full responsibility” for “destructive actions carried out in the occupied regions of Georgia and along the occupation line” on the occupation authorities.Photo: State Security Service of Georgia.
Tweet 
Share
Frank Yanez, an American citizen illegally detained by Russian occupation forces in central Georgia last month, has been released and is in the territory controlled by the Georgian Government, the State Security Service of Georgia announced on Wednesday.
The state body said both the hotline mechanism and other tools at the disposal of the Government had been “actively used” in releasing Yanez from illegal imprisonment in central Georgia’s occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
The US national’s detention was reported by media outlets in the occupied region to have taken place on July 27 near the Akhalgori district village of Balaani.
His release was raised to the co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions - a platform launched in 2008, in the aftermath of the Russia-Georgia war that sparked the ongoing occupation of two Georgian regions - and with international partners, the Georgian state body said.
It also placed “full responsibility” for “destructive actions carried out in the occupied regions of Georgia and along the occupation line” on the occupation authorities.
The ongoing war in Ukraine and the current threats and challenges in the Black Sea region were in the focus of a meeting between Grigol Liluashvili, the Head of the State Security Service (SSS) of Georgia, and David Cattler, the NATO Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security, on Wednesday.
Zaza Megrelishvili and Tamaz Gogichashvili, two Georgian citizens illegally detained near central Georgia’s Russian-occupied village of Lopani by occupation forces on December 15, 2021 were released on Friday, the State Security Service of Georgia said.
The State Security Service of Georgia has reported “illegal destructive activities” observed in the occupied territories near the central Georgian village of Mejvriskhevi, adjacent to the administrative boundary line separating the government-controlled territory from the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
The forces carrying out occupation of central Georgia’s Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region were observed in 130 cases of illegal ‘borderisation’ on the administrative boundary throughout 2021, while nine such incidents noted along the boundary separating the occupied northwestern Abkhazia from the Georgian territory, the annual report of the Georgian State Security Service said.
Tamaz Glurjidze, the Georgian citizen illegally detained by Russian-controlled occupation forces adjacent to central Georgia’s occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region earlier this week, has been released, the Georgian state security service said on Thursday.