Ukrainians returning from buffer zone on Georgian border say they were taken straight to enlistment office
Ukrainians returning from Georgian border
Based on reporting by Novaya Gazeta Europe
Ukrainian citizens who had been stuck in the buffer zone in Georgia and were returned home with the help of the foreign ministry say they were immediately taken to enlistment offices. One of them told Novaya Gazeta Europe about the experience.
According to the man, he and others were flown from Georgia to Moldova and then taken by bus to Ukraine. Everyone in the group was later brought to enlistment offices, he said.
He stressed that he was not allowed to go home and was sent straight to the enlistment office in Kryvyi Rih, before being transferred to a medical commission in Dnipro. Relatives have not been allowed to see him.
Most of the doctors have already marked him as “fit for service” — documents confirming this are in Novaya Gazeta Europe’s possession. The man insists, however, that he has serious vision problems.
“My eyesight is very poor, I can’t see anything. My right eye doesn’t work at all. […] If I have to fight, I will go, but at least give me time to take care of my affairs,” he told Novaya Gazeta Europe.
SOTA has also reported other cases of Ukrainians taken from the Georgian border and sent straight to enlistment offices after being admitted to hospital in Odesa.
These are Ukrainians, most of them former prisoners deported from Russia after serving their sentences. They were taken to the Georgian border, but because of documentation problems, Georgian border guards refused to let them enter.
In July and August this year, around 100 Ukrainians were stranded at the Upper Lars crossing. They were forced to live in a basement in the buffer zone, repeatedly staging protests, threatening suicide, and even going on hunger strike.
On 22 August, Ukrainian authorities announced they had brought back 65 citizens stuck at Upper Lars after deportation from Russia, including 10 women and eight seriously ill people.
At present, 25 Ukrainians remain in the basement at the Dariali checkpoint on the Georgian side.
