10:25, 19 September 2013

Russian border guards suspend demarcation of Georgian-South-Ossetian border

Barbed wire installed near the village of Ditsi by Russian border guards. Georgia, Shida Kartli region, July 2013. Photo by Edita Badasyan for the ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Protests of residents of the Georgian village of Ditsi forced Russian border guards to suspend works on the demarcation of the border between Georgia and South Ossetia.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 17, near the village of Ditsi, a conflict occurred between the local residents and the Russian border guards. According to the Georgian side's version, earlier, the Russian border guards have deepened the border by about 300 meters in the direction of the region of Shida Kartli.

In the morning of September 18, the Russian border guards again started to install the poles; however, later, they suspended that activity and left the territory. This was reported by Zakhariya Vatikadze, an attorney of the Ditsi territorial authority.

According to his statement, the suspension of the border demarcation works may be connected with the scheduled talks to be held in Moscow between Zurab Abashidze, Special Representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia on Relations with Russia, and Grigory Karasin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the "Georgia-Online" reports.