At the Verkhny Lars border crossing, a group of Ukrainians who had been previously deported from Russia, held an action in response to the harsh conditions of detention. People came out of the basement where they are being held and demanded access to water and basic sanitation.
About 90 people, citizens of Ukraine who were deported from Russia, are currently being held in the basement located on the territory of the unfinished Dariali terminal. Earlier, ASTRA wrote that among those detained are former prisoners from the occupied territories, people with HIV, tuberculosis, and disabilities. They are not fed or provided with medical care. There are not enough beds — there are less than 20 of them. The room is stuffy, the condition of many is deteriorating, and one person has already been hospitalized.
On July 20, about 70 people entered the checkpoint and demanded, in particular, to be allowed into the Duty Free zone to buy water. According to them, there is not enough humanitarian aid, and they are taken outside for only a few minutes a day. The protesters also demanded that tuberculosis patients and healthy people be separated — they are currently held in the same room.
One of the detainees told ASTRA that he saw one of the protesters being taken to a separate room, handcuffed and beaten by Georgian border guards. “They [the border guards] called the police, but since we didn’t rebel, but just came out of the basement, the police didn’t do much,” Vladimir [name changed] said.
The Georgian Interior Ministry stated that they refuse to let these people into the country in the interests of state security. According to the agency, most of them have criminal records for serious or especially serious crimes.
“This is confirmed by their release certificates from penitentiary institutions. In addition, they themselves claim that they served their sentences in correctional institutions in Eastern Ukraine for their crimes. Accordingly, in the interests of state security, they were denied entry to the territory of Georgia,” the statement said.
At the same time, the volunteers and the detainees themselves emphasize that among those at the checkpoint there are those who have not committed any crimes and have no criminal record.
The basement for deported Ukrainians who were banned from entering the Russian Federation, but were not allowed to enter Georgia due to lack of documents, has been operating at the Verkhny Lars checkpoint since at least 2023. The Georgian Interior Ministry claims that it has offered Ukraine to pick up its citizens, but Kiev has not yet made a decision.
Ukrainian Minister Andriy Sibiga accused Russia of using deportations as a tool of pressure and suggested Moscow should deport Ukrainians directly to the border with Ukraine, rather than sending them to third countries.
UPD: Vladimir Zelensky said that Ukrainian diplomats are working to arrange the transit of these citizens back to Ukraine.
