29 July 2020, 23:48
South Ossetia accuses Georgian secret-service agents of attempting to cross border
In South Ossetia, border guards prevented an attempt to cross the border committed by a Georgian group of secret-service agents, the KGB of South Ossetia reported. The South-Ossetian KGB suggests that the actions of the Georgian law enforcement bodies create a threat of direct clashes.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the autumn of 2019, the situation aggravated on the line of demarcation between Georgia and South Ossetia. The tension was provoked by an arrangement of a checkpoint by Georgian soldiers near the village of Tsnelis. In response to the above, South Ossetia arranged its own checkpoint not far from the Georgian one. The parties repeatedly accused each other of provocations. A public outcry occurred when agents of the South-Ossetian KGB detained members of a patrol of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) on October 24.
On July 11, according to the KGB of South Ossetia, Zaza Gakheladze, a resident of Georgia, fired at border guards when they attempted to detain him. The border guards opened fire in return and wounded Zaza Gakheladze to his leg. Georgia condemned the actions of the South-Ossetian law enforcers.
The KGB of South Ossetia announced that on July 25, a group of Georgian secret-service agents tried to secretly cross the line of demarcation in the vicinity of the village of Ziuuat (Ziulet) in the Znaur District and left only after South-Ossetian border guards began filming them.
On September 9, 2019, immediately after the escalation of the conflict, the KGB of South Ossetia announced the closure of the border with Georgia. On February 27, 2020, after cases of the coronavirus infection had been registered in Georgia, South Ossetia completely closed the border with Georgia.
The KGB of South Ossetia declares that it understands the need of some local residents to visit Georgia. Seriously ill people, pensioners receiving payments in Georgia, and other residents of border areas receive permissions to visit Georgia after each case had been considered individually, the KGB of South Ossetia reports on Facebook.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 29, 2020 at 06:06 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
