Tag
occupation

Abduction, arrest and detention near ABL South Ossetia

Georgian civilians living around the Administrative Boundary Line frequently experience arrest, abduction and detention by Russian or South Ossetian “border guards” for alleged violation and trespassing of the “border”.

This page keeps track of the latest developments of such arrests. Archived years can be found  in the left sidebar. While having mapped incidents since 2014, the blogged chronology is currently only available from 2017 onwards. 

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[2020 archive] Arrests near ABL South Ossetia

Georgian civilians living around the Administrative Boundary Line frequently experience arrests, abduction and detention by Russian or South Ossetian “border guards” for alleged violation and trespassing of the “border”.

This is the archived 2020 page, click here for the current running year

Continue reading [2020 archive] Arrests near ABL South Ossetia

Checkpoint regime Abkhazia

The de facto Abkhazian authorities frequently close the sole remaining checkpoint towards Tbilisi controlled Georgia at the Enguri Bridge near Zugdidi. The reasons vary per occasion, but in every instance it hinders freedom of movement principles. Since 2017 the Enguri Bridge is the only official crossing point for passage of locals, after other minor ones were closed. 

This page logs closures (and reopening) of the Enguri Bridge to provide insight in scale and impact on humanitarian circumstances such as medical aid, education access of students and so on. Also arrests near the ABL are logged here in lack of a separate page. Most recent updates at the top. 

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Checkpoint regime South Ossetia

The de facto authorities of South Ossetia frequently close crossing points towards Tbilisi controlled territory for a variety of reasons. In every instance it directly hinders freedom of movement principles, which is precisely the aim of the closures. “Security reasons” are typically cited, but by far most of the time there is no imminent threat at play.

This page logs developments on crossing point closures (and reopening) to provide insight in scale and impact on humanitarian circumstances such as medical aid and so on. Most recent updates on top.   Continue reading Checkpoint regime South Ossetia

[2019 archive] Arrests near ABL South Ossetia

This is the archived 2019 page, click here for the current running year

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Georgian civilians living around the Administrative Boundary Line frequently experience arrest, abduction and detention by Russian or South Ossetian “border guards” for alleged violation and trespassing of the “border”.

This is the archived 2019 page, click here for the current running year

Continue reading [2019 archive] Arrests near ABL South Ossetia

Territorial dispute Chorchana-Tsnelisi over old and “fake” maps

In August 2019 a simmering territorial dispute driven by South Ossetia revived when Georgian authorities constructed a new police post on Tbilisi administered territory near the South Ossetian controlled Tsnelisi village (referred to as Uista by South Ossetian side) . The course of the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between Tsnelisi and Georgian controlled Chorchana is disputed by South Ossetia. Only a few days earlier borderization at Gugutiantkari stirred the emotions on the Georgian side.

In the past, Tskhinvali laid a (historic) claim on the area between Tsnelisi and Chorchana, at the southwestern corner of South Ossetia. Since 2019 it has come to an explicit non-physical confrontation, with Georgia de facto losing control of territory, for the moment, rooted in a tactical blunder by the Georgian side. A series of incidents, heated rhetoric and Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meetings were some of the direct and visible elements of the dispute which is still ongoing unresolved into 2022. This page is a chronological overview of developments since August 2019 (last updates at bottom of the page).

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Detention of eight Georgians in 24 hours near Adzvi

On 17-18 August the arrest and detention of eight Georgians by Russian led “border guards” took place near the Administrative Boundary Line on two locations: seven at a church near Adzvistavi and one person near Akhalubani. Annually hundreds of Georgians get arrested in a similar fashion, but the high number of arrested people makes this a remarkable case. 

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Russian military infrastructure in Abkhazia

The Russian-Georgian war of August 2008 resulted in a massive increase of Russian military presence in Georgia’s Abkhazia region. An estimated 5.000 Russian military personnel (3.500 Armed Forces, 1.500 border guards) are deployed in the region. 

This page visualizes some of the expansion of Russian presence over the years in Abkhazia, based on public material available.

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Russian military infrastructure in South Ossetia region

The Russian-Georgian war of August 2008 resulted in a massive increase of Russian military presence in Georgia’s South Ossetia region. An estimated 4.000 (only 4th Military Base) to 5.000 military personnel (3.500 4th Military Base, 1.500 border guards, source, source2) are deployed in the region. This is a tenfold of official Russian (“peacekeeping”) presence prior to 2008 and with much stronger warfare equipment. According to the latest data just 53.000 people live in the area. This page visualizes some of the Russian presence and its expansion over the years in South Ossetia, based on public material available.

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[2018 archive] Arrests near ABL South Ossetia

Georgian civilians living around the Administrative Boundary Line frequently experience arrest, abduction and detention by Russian or South Ossetian “border guards” for alleged violation and trespassing of the South Ossetia “border”.

This is the archived 2018 page, click here for the current running year. Jump to 2020, 2019 or 2017.

Continue reading [2018 archive] Arrests near ABL South Ossetia