Russian occupying forces illegally detain 6 Georgian citizens

The State Security Service of Georgia on Friday said Russian occupation forces had illegally detained six Georgian citizens near the central Georgian village of Mejvriskhevi, adjacent to the administrative boundary line separating the Government-controlled territory from the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.

Aleksi Batiashvili, the First Deputy Head of the Service, said the hotline operated for exchange of information along the line had been activated over the incident.

[S]ix more of our fellow citizens were illegally detained by the [Russian] occupation forces this morning. We activated the hotline, [while] our international partners are [also] involved”, he said.

Batiashvili said the service would “do our best to return these people to their families as soon as possible”.

The development follows the Service’s confirmation on Wednesday of the arrest of another citizen in the territory adjacent to the village of Disevi in central Georgia’s Gori municipality.