Required water: Ukrainians deported from the Russian Federation protested on the border with Georgia (video)
Among them, as they transferred to the Astra Media, on July 21, citing the most detained, there are former prisoners of TT, HIV and tuberculosis, as well as people with disabilities. "They are not fed or provided with medical care. Sleeping places are not enough - less than 20. The room is stuffy, the condition of many is deteriorating, one person has already been in the hospital," the journalists said.
On July 20, approximately 70 Ukrainians came out of the basement and demanded that they be allowed into the Duty Free area for water purchasing. Deported said that the humanitarian aid was lacking, and they are taken to the street for only a few minutes a day. Everyone is kept in one room, and protesters demanded to separate patients with tuberculosis. The eyewitness described the media that saw one of the protesters in a separate room. There he was beaten by Georgian border guards.
The police were called, but the Ukrainians were not rebel - they just got out of the basement, so law enforcement officers "did not do anything". The lawyer at the NGO "Protection of Prisons of Ukraine" noted that as of July 17, 95 citizens of Ukraine were kept on the border with Georgia, seven of them - women. She explained that these were residents of temporarily occupied territories, which were deported due to the refusal to receive passports of the Russian Federation.
According to the human rights activist, medical care was limited to the call of "ambulance" in critical situations, and due to lack of oxygen, people have to sit on the stairs. On July 20, the Georgia Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that most of the CPCs were convicted of serious or particularly serious crimes, so they would not be allowed into the country in the interests of state security.
Georgia assured that several mechanisms for the safe transportation of these people to neutral zones and returning to their homeland were assured. It is noted that joint consultations are ongoing. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, about 80 people were now stuck at the border, who tried to come to the country with the Russian Federation with illegal documents.
On July 19, Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga stressed that Russia was using the deportation of Ukrainians through Georgia as a pressure tool. Kyiv proposes to Moscow transport these people directly to the common border. "Since June, Russia has significantly increased the number of deported Ukrainian citizens, mostly former prisoners, to the border with Georgia. As a result, dozens of people, many of whom do not have the proper documents, have been stuck in the transit zone.
Ukrainian consuls are actively working on Ukraine. 43 Ukrainians, including the former political prisoner of Andrew Kolomiyts, have already been evacuated. Ukraine is actively working with Georgia and Moldova on the return of others. "At the same time, there is no guarantee that Russia will not increase the number of deported. In order to avoid further complications, we publicly suggest Russia to transfer these Ukrainian citizens directly to the border with Ukraine.
We are ready to accept them there. There are appropriate areas of the border where we can do it. We transmit this proposal. On July 19, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky noted that Ukrainians actually "throw" from Russia without documents. However, neither Georgian nor the Ukrainian side is warned. "In particular, these are Ukrainians who are released from prisons and camps in Russia -controlled territory.
Ukrainian diplomats are engaged in the organization of transit of these citizens of our country into Ukraine," the politician assured. We will remind, earlier Focus passed that the basement for deported Ukrainians on the border with Georgia has been working at least in 2023. The detained to journalists that I did not access the shower and the toilet, but not everyone has the humanitarian aid brought by volunteers.