Publication N32 / Review Period: June 1 - 30, 2024 / Author: Arsen Araqelov

Monitoring of the Situation at the Occupation Line is being prepared within the framework of the project - Roadmap to Kremlin's Policy in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region. The purpose of the publication is to review the situation and ongoing important developments near the occupation line in the Tskhinvali region. The publication will be useful for everyone – decision-makers, public employees, representatives of media and international governmental or non-governmental organizations,  and other people who are interested in the mentioned topic.

Detained and Released Citizens

In June, the occupation forces arrested one Georgian citizen.

On June 8, near Tskhinvali, the occupation forces illegally arrested a Georgian citizen. The State Security Service of Georgia did not name the detainee in its statement, however, according to Radio Liberty, the detainee is not local and does not reside in the Shida Kartli region. As per the same information, the illegally detained citizen has parents abroad and lives in Tbilisi with the brother.

On June 5, the so-called district court of the Java region sentenced Georgi Mosiashvili to two years in prison. The occupation forces arrested a 35-year-old Mosiashvili, a resident of Perevi, on October 31, 2023. He was accused of illegally crossing the so-called border. Mosiashvili was also charged with poaching, since, according to the Security Committee, he caught 25 kg of trout on an electric hook.

In total, the occupation forces arrested one person in June. Information about the release of Georgian citizens from Tskhinvali prison has not been confirmed in open sources.

As of June 30, a total of nine Georgian citizens remain in illegal detention. Of these, only the names of Soso Dvalishvili, Lasha Khetereli, Giorgi Mosiashvili, Nika Mamastarashvili and Ivane Lutidze are known.

Soso Dvalishvili - the occupation forces detained him at a Perevi (Sachkhere municipality) section of the occupation line on January 16, 2023.

Lasha Khetereli - the occupation forces arrested him for the seventh time in July 2023. He periodically moves to the occupied territory to visit family members living there.

Nika Mamastarashvili and Ivane Lutidze – the occupation forces detained them near the occupation line in the vicinity of the village of Knolevi (Kareli municipality) on February 14, 2024.

Giorgi Mosiashvili - the occupation forces detained him in the vicinity of the village of Sinaguri (Sachkhere municipality) on October 31, 2023.

See the interactive map of illegal detentions prepared by the Rondeli Foundation here.

“Borderization” and Activities Along the Occupation Line

Special Radio-Electronic Reconnaissance Station Near the Village of Gremiskhevi

According to Davit Katsarava, the leader of the anti-occupation movement - Power is in Unity, the occupation forces “installed a special radio-electronic reconnaissance station on the top of the village of Gremishkevi, which is used as a parking area for a special reconnaissance vehicle.” As per his allegation, the occupation forces arranged many similar stations along the occupation line.

Special Station Near the Village of Gremiskhevi

Moving along the Occupation Line

According to the so-called Security Committee of the Tskhinvali region, during the illegitimate presidential elections in the occupied region, held on July 7-10, the Odzisi/Mosabruni (Razdakhan) and Perevi/Kardzmani (Pereu) border checkpoints were temporarily closed. The population of the occupied region is allowed to cross the BCPs and move to the territory controlled by the central government of Georgia from 20th to 30th each month.

Accident

On June 19, it was reported that a 14-year-old teenager living on the occupied territory, while swimming in the Liakhvi River in Tskhinvali, was carried away by a strong flow of water towards Georgian villages. A search operation in the Liakhvi River lasted all night; the riverbanks were examined in Zemo and Kvemo Nikozi, as well as in Pkhvenisi. Georgian specialists released water into the irrigation system to reduce the water level.

After several hours of search, Georgian rescuers found the body of the drowned 14-year-old boy in the village of Pkhvenisi (Gori municipality). On the same day, the teenager’s body was transferred to Tskhinvali.

Monthly Results of the So-Called Security Committee

According to the so-called Security Committee of the Tskhinvali region, in May the occupation forces arrested 22 people for violating the “state border,” of which 5 violated the “state border regime”, and 17 - the “border regime”.