Monthly Review

Monitoring of the Situation at the Occupation Line in the Tskhinvali Region

2021 / 12 / 03

Publication N4 / Review Period: November 1-301, 2021 / Author: Elene Mindiashvili

Monitoring of the Situation at the Occupation Line in the Tskhinvali Region 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 review will be useful for everyone – decision-makers, public employees, media representatives and other people who are interested in the mentioned topic.

Important Meetings

103rd IPRM Meeting

On November 18, the 103rd Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting was held in the village of Ergneti, the Gori municipality, under the co-facilitation of Ambassador Marek Szczygieł, Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), and Ambassador Annika Söder, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus. During the meeting, representatives of the central government of Georgia highlighted several issues, such as illegal detentions by the occupation regime, the so-called protracted closure of crossing points, facts of “borderization,” especially the latest stance in the village of Kirbila, the Gori municipality. The Georgian side requested information from the Tskhinvali representatives about Gennady Bestaev’s condition before his transfer to Georgia. The parties also discussed the challenges and problems posed by the coronavirus pandemic (see Salome Abramishvili’s article on the issue).

Meeting in Ergneti. Source: ssg.gov.ge

From Meeting to Meeting

At the 102nd meeting, the Georgian delegation raised several issues: determination of Gela Gochoshvili’s whereabouts, opening of crossing points and release of Georgian citizens which were illegally detained by the occupation regime. The Ossetian side demanded to close the block post in the village of Chorchana, to prevent facts of violation of the so-called border regime by Georgian citizens and flying unmanned aerial vehicles.

From Meeting to Meeting - Resolved Issues

The Georgian side received information about Gela Gochoshvili’s whereabouts. His so-called trial was also held.  Gennady Bestaev was released from the Tskhinvali prison and handed over to the Georgian side.

From Meeting to Meeting - Unresolved Issues

The request of the Georgian side to open the crossing points was not satisfied this time too. The request of the Ossetian side to move the Georgian-controlled block post at the occupation line in Chorchana also remained unchanged. The Ossetian side again voiced allegations of violating the airspace of the so-called Republic of South Ossetia by unmanned aerial vehicles; however, this time it was clarified that they were talking about the so-called drones. According to the Georgian side, drones did not cross the occupation line through the airspace. The Georgian side also demanded to terminate the facts of “borderization.”

Assessment of the Ossetian Side

Summing up the results of the 103rd IPRM meeting, the head of the Ossetian delegation, Igor Kochiev, tells the Ossetian media about several key issues raised by the delegation during the meeting. The first and most important is the Chorchana block post, which Mr. Kochiev says is illegally located on the territory of the “Republic of South Ossetia” and is one of the main destabilizers of the situation on the so-called border. The Ossetian side has been demanding that the Georgian block post be closed and moved to Georgian territory. He also touched the case of Gennady Bestaev, saying that Mr. Bestaev was not released from the Tskhinvali prison, he was pardoned by [de facto president] Anatoly Bibilov. Igor Kochiev called the Georgian media report that Gennady Bestaev was unable to receive proper medical care in Tskhinvali due to low healthcare standards a hype and said this is a manipulation material for the Georgian side which was not really concerned about Gennady Bestaev’s condition.

Released Citizens

Release of Gennady Bestaev

Health condition of Gennady Bestaev, who was transferred to the Tskhinvali prison after his fifth arrest on charges of violation of the “border regime” in 2019, became critical a week earlier to his release, on November 15, 2021. He was taken to the Tskhinvali hospital with a diagnosis of impending stroke, however, due to the extreme severity of his health condition and the failure of the Tskhinvali medical institution to comply with standards, it became necessary to transfer the patient to Georgia. According to the State Security Service, Bestaev was transferred to a Georgian-Dutch clinic in Tbilisi on November 16. On the same day, the so-called President of South Ossetia, Anatoly Bibilov, signed a decree pardoning Bestaev. According to Naira Gudadze, Gennady Bestaev's sister, in recent years, she has constantly received promises from the authorities that her brother will be released from prison in the near future and the Georgian side has been taking all possible measures; however, the fact remains unchanged. According to an intensive care physician on duty on November 17, Gennady Bestaev, who was diagnosed with a hemorrhagic stroke, is in a coma on respiratory control in the last fateful week of his three years of imprisonment.

Release of Beka Kurtanidze

On November 25, the Ossetian media reported the release of another Georgian citizen. According to the PEC news agency, Beka Kurtanidze illegally crossed the border of the de facto Republic of South Ossetia and stayed at his relatives’ until November 16. On November 16, he was arrested and transferred to the Tskhinvali prison. On November 25, the so-called district court of Znauri found Beka Kurtanidze guilty of an administrative offense under Article 4, part 2 of the Law on Administrative Responsibility for Violations in the Field of Protection of the State Border of the Republic of South Ossetia and expelled him from the so-called republic. Information about the arrest and release was not disseminated either by government services or the Georgian media.

Verdict of Gela Gochoshvili

On November 18, the so-called court of Tskhinvali sentenced a Georgian citizen, Gela Gochoshvili, to one year of imprisonment. Gela Gochoshvili was arrested on charges of illegal border crossing on August 14. Reportedly, he is also accused of smuggling across the “border.” Information about the arrest of Gela Gochoshvili, a resident of the Kaspi municipality, became known to the Georgian side in September, at least three weeks late. Accordingly, the hotline was activated with a delay.

“Borderization” and Ongoing Activities Along the Occupation Line

Construction of a New Block Post in Kirbali

According to the information spread by the leader of the anti-occupation movement - Power is in Unity, Davit Katsarava, a new block post, presumably built in the last week, was discovered in the village of Kirbali in the Gori municipality as a result of the November 14 patrol. According to him, the block post is a capital building and much larger than the standard one.

Construction of a New Block Post. Source: Davit Katsarava 

Upgrading of Block Posts in Khurvaleti

On November 25, Davit Katsarava reported the resumption of “borderization” works in the village of Khurvaleti, the Gori municipality,  where the “border” of barbed wire left Data Vanishvili’s house on the other side of the occupation line years ago. According to Mr. Katsarava, the territory is being plowed up and work is actively underway to install fences at night, at a time less noticeable for the population,

As per existing practice in the Georgian-Ossetian reality, plows are indicators of “borderization.”

Patrolling Intensity

According to local residents, the Ossetian side is intensively controlling the occupation line in the villages of Khurvaleti, Ditsi, Adzv and Ergneti like the previous months. Russian border guards constantly monitor and control these sections from small block posts or watchtowers. The Georgian Border Police only bypasses the specified territory, since Georgian block posts are located at the entrance to the villages or even further away.

Important Visits

In November, no significant high-level visits were made to the occupation line in the Tskhinvali region and there were no meetings of Georgian officials in the villages where the “borderization” occurred.

State Projects in Villages Near the Occupation Line

The Universal Group of Georgia secondary oil company was solemnly opened in the village of Kodistskaro in the Kaspi municipally, on November 16. The village locates adjacent to the occupation line. The company was launched with the support of the JSC Partnership Fund’s StartUp Georgia and USAID/Zrda. Universal Group of Georgia is the first enterprise in Georgia which produces four different products by processing secondary oil by the method of “molecular decomposition.” Especially noteworthy is that local waste will be used for production, the area of ​​sale will be Georgia, the enterprise will employ locals living in villages adjacent to the occupation line and will promote business development in villages adjacent to the administrative border line.

New project. Source: entrepreneur.com