Aug 7 — On August 5, the Ukrainian Embassy in Georgia received a message from five Ukrainians who were deported from Russia and are temporarily detained at the buffer zone of the Dariali checkpoint, stating that they had begun a hunger strike because they can’t cross the Georgian border, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to European Pravda.

Since the second half of June, Russia has significantly increased the pace of deportation of Ukrainian people through the Georgian border, causing a humanitarian crisis in the buffer zone of the checkpoint.

On August 6, Caucasus’ Echo reported that the number of Ukrainians who declared hunger strike rose to 15.

Russia deported to the Georgian border prisoners who were initially convicted in territories of Ukraine that were occupied — from occupied territories, Russians forcibly transported them to Russian prisons.

The majority of these people have no documents to cross the border, and their access to the country “poses a threat” because most of them were imprisoned for serious crimes, Georgian authorities say.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s journalists write that these Ukrainians stuck at the Russia-Georgia border for weeks or months because of a lack of necessary documents at the checkpoint, waiting for confirmation from the Ukrainian Embassy that they are Ukrainian citizens.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said that they know about the problem of these Ukrainians and are working to bring them back.

They also noted that there are 96 Ukrainian people in the buffer zone of the Dariali checkpoint. Also, 44 Ukrainians have been successfully evacuated since the end of June.

Andrii Sybiha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, asked Russia publicly to send people directly to the Ukrainian border, rather than via Georgia and Moldova.

“We note that the Russian Federation is ignoring this request, which also indicates Moscow’s desire to deliberately create a humanitarian crisis on the Russian-Georgian border,” said the Ministry.

Consuls from the Ukrainian Embassy in Georgia went to the border to meet with the Ukrainian citizens who started the hunger strike at the checkpoint and requested that Georgia grant them immediate and unhindered access. They involved the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UNHCR, and the International Organisation for Migration in Georgia in this process.

Read more

Gwara is a Kharkiv-based independent newsroom that works to tell you about our vibrant home while it resists Russia’s war of aggression and endures through its consequences. Please, consider buying our journalists a coffee or subscribing to our Patreon to support our reporting long-term