Two Georgian citizens detained near border with South Ossetia

Residents of the Gori District of Georgia report that Russian border guards have detained two residents of the border village of Bershueti. The Georgian authorities have reported the incident to international observers.

The detainees are 27-year-old Gocha Berianidze and 19-year-old Nikoloz Djavakhishvili.

According to their relatives, the young men were detained by Russian border guards when going to a village chapel, the "Georgia Online" reports.

Villagers report there were three other local residents near the chapel together with Gocha Berianidze and Nikoloz Djavakhishvili, but they returned to the village before the border guards arrived in the place. The villagers learned about the friends' detention from Gocha Berianidze, who managed to make a phone call and report that Russian border guards were taking them away in the direction of Tskhinvali.

The territory where Nikoloz Djavakhishvili and Gocha Berianidze were detained is controlled by the central authorities of Georgia, state local residents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’on June 21, 2018 at 02:36 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.