65 Ukrainian citizens stranded at the Russian-Georgian border return home
Ukrainians from Verkhny Lars return home
According to Georgia’s Interior Ministry, 65 Ukrainian citizens stranded at the Dariali checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border have voluntarily returned to Ukraine on a charter flight via a third country. The ministry said several Ukrainians remain in the neutral zone at the border, and efforts are under way to arrange their return home.
Russia has been transferring Ukrainian citizens convicted in the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Georgian border. In most cases, the prisoners had been moved against their will from occupied areas to Russian penal colonies.
On 20 July, Georgia’s interior ministry issued a statement about the Ukrainians at the Russian-Georgian border, saying that about 80 people were seeking to cross into Georgia using “invalid documents.” The ministry stressed that these individuals had “committed serious crimes in the past” and that, “in the interests of state security, they were denied entry to the country.”
On 5 August, several Ukrainians at the Dariali checkpoint went on hunger strike in protest, later joined by others.
What Georgia’s interior ministry says
“The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia ensured the transfer of Ukrainian citizens from the Dariali checkpoint to Tbilisi International Airport, where they were handed over to representatives of Ukrainian law enforcement. The ministry also arranged their boarding and accompanied them during the charter flight.
A number of Ukrainian citizens remain at Georgia’s state border. For their organised, safe and voluntary return home, the Georgian side continues intensive negotiations with Ukraine and international organisations. We hope the process for those still at the border will not be further delayed, and that they will be able to return home soon.
As the public knows, 87 citizens of the Russian Federation were in the so-called neutral zone of the Dariali checkpoint, seeking to cross the Georgian border with invalid documents while posing as Ukrainian nationals. In the interest of state security, they were denied entry, as all of them had serious criminal records and had been repeatedly convicted of grave and especially grave crimes. They also lacked the valid documents required to cross the border and did not meet the legal criteria for entry into Georgia.
In recent months, the Georgian side has held a series of working meetings with the Ukrainian embassy in Georgia and with international organisations. The issue was also addressed through the network of police attachés, involving coordination between Georgia’s police attaché in Ukraine and the Ukrainian interior ministry.
Together with the foreign ministry and other relevant state bodies, the interior ministry is taking all necessary measures both to ensure the security of Georgia’s population and to facilitate the timely return of those remaining in the so-called neutral zone to their homeland,” the statement said.
Reaction from Ukraine’s foreign ministry
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, commented on the return of the citizens:
“We have brought back 65 Ukrainians who were in the buffer zone on the Russian-Georgian border. Among them are 10 women and eight seriously ill people.
The humanitarian crisis at the Russian-Georgian border began in the second half of June, after Russia deliberately started sharply increasing the number of Ukrainians deported through this checkpoint.
In previous months, 44 citizens had already been returned to Ukraine.”
Ukrainians from Verkhny Lars return home
